Habiganj district unit member secretary of the Student Against Discrimination, Mahdi Hasan, on Thursday was beaten up allegedly by leaders and activists of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, student wing of the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
People of the area said that a group of youths attacked Mahdi on the premises of deputy commissioner’s office in the district town after he came out of the office.
SAD coordinator Alamgir Hasan Abid told New Age that the people of the area rescued Mahdi from the spot after the attack and admitted him to the Habiganj Sadar Adhunik Hospital. He said that Mahdi went to the DC office to submit an application for verifying the CCTV footage about Wednesday’s attack on him.
‘The JCD activists stopped him on his way back after submitting the application and attacked him on the DC office premises,’ he said.
On Wednesday, a group of JCD activists chased Mahdi in front of Brindaban Government College in the town and forced him to take shelter at the Habiganj Sadar police station.
Mahdi alleged that the JCD activists were threatening him for the past two days over a Facebook post in which he praised BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia for her uncompromising leadership but criticised the late president and BNP founder Ziaur Rahman.
He had claimed that JCD activists also had gone to his village home in search of him after the post and said that he was afraid to return home because of the possibility of an attack.
JCD Habiganj district president Shah Rajib Ahmed Ringan, however, denied involvement of his organisation activists in the attack.
‘Mahdi’s allegation is completely false and baseless,’ he claimed.
Habiganj Sadar police officer-in-charge Zahidul Haque said that he visited the spot immediately after receiving the news of attack on Mahdi. ‘Mahdi went to the DC’s office to collect information about Wednesday’s attempt to attack him.’
‘We found evidences that a group of unidentified people attacked Mahdi in front of the DC’s office at noon. We also talked to him at the hospital where he was given treatment,’ the OC said, adding that they were investigating to identify the attackers.
