



Five policemen allegedly fleeing after committing a robbery were seized by locals at Kaharol upazila in Dinajpur early yesterday and kept in confinement all daylong.

Angry villagers also held nine other cops, who came to their colleagues' rescue.

They even assaulted Dinajpur deputy commissioner as he tried to calm the angry mob.

The confinement triggered a clash between locals and police that ended with suspension of seven police personnel as “they failed to maintain law and order”.

At least 35 persons were injured in the fight while a man running for a cover was crushed dead under a microbus. Identity of the dead could not be known immediately.

However, the 14 policemen, including the five caught after the robbery, were released around 3:15pm.

Mostafizur Rahman, Dinajpur superintendent of police (acting), told The Daily Star that all those rescued were members of police.

According to the villagers, some eight people broke in the tin-roofed house of Rajendranath Devnath, a paramedic, in Ghasiara village of Kaharol around 1:30am yesterday.

“Hearing the sound of breaking the front door, I rushed out of my room... Without saying a word, the intruders hit me with sharp weapons,” said Rajendranath, aged about 55.

He has been admitted to Dinajpur Medical College Hospital with injuries to the head and right hand. One of his relatives also came under attack.

The gang, who went there in a white microbus, looted Tk 3 lakh, gold ornaments weighing eight to 10 tolas and six cell phones, said Kishore Devnath, Rajendra's nephew.

Half an hour later, the robbers exploded cocktails to make their way out as locals came in their pursuit.

The mob, however, managed to stop the microbus, blocking the highway at Boleya Bazar.

Introducing themselves as policemen of Birganj Police Station, gang members asked the locals to let them go. As the latter did not comply, they fired three gunshots, locals said.

The villagers caught five of them while the rest escaped. The five were confined to a room in Rajendra's house. People set fire to the microbus.

When ASP (Birganj Circle) Khairul Islam went to visit the spot early morning, angry locals also confined him.

Around 8:30am, Kaharol OC Shahidullah went there with eight policemen and became engaged in a furious argument with villagers, who at one stage overturned the pickup truck that had carried the OC and his team.

As the law enforcers fired rubber bullets at the crowd, villagers caught the cops and also confined them to the same room and torched the vehicle.

Getting the news, people from other villages of Birganj and Kaharol brought out processions and gathered in front of the house.

Two other groups laid siege to Birganj and Kaharol police stations.

They set fire to different rooms of Birganj Police Station and burnt three motorcycles there.

Birganj police said they had fired at least 100 rubber bullets and lobbed 60 teargas canisters during the clash and five of their colleagues were injured.

Dinajpur Deputy Commissioner Jamal Uddin Ahmed and Kaharol UNO Azim Uddin went to Ghasiara and called for calm.

However, the locals did not listen to them and threw stones at the DC.

Lutfar Rahman Khan, additional deputy inspector general (Rangpur region), rushed to Birganj around 12:30pm and announced suspension of seven policemen and closing of ASP (Birganj Circle) Khairul Alam and 18 constables of Birganj upazila.

The suspended are: Kaharol OC Shahidullah, who was among the captives; Birganj OC Aktaruzzaman Prodhan, sub-inspectors Md Shajahan, Md Monsur Ahmed and Fazlul Haque, ASIs Sukumar Roy and Jabed Islam of Birganj Police Station.

Afterwards, following a home ministry order, Border Guard Bangladesh men from Thakurgaon and Dinajpur sectors rushed there to control the situation.

Around 3:30pm, the captives left the place heavily guarded by Rab and BGB members.

OC (investigation) Anisur Rahman of Dinajpur Police station has been appointed the acting OC of Birganj Police Station.

A four-member team, headed by Additional District Magistrate Azizul Islam, has been formed to investigate the incidents, the DC said. The committee has been asked to submit its report in 10 days.

He, however, denied any role of police in the robbery but said, “People suspect that some policemen were involved.”

He claimed to have rescued only eight policemen and the microbus driver, Shahidul Islam, although 15 persons were freed in presence of journalists and hundreds of locals.

On March 8, villagers attacked a robber while he was leaving after robbery in Doptoir village of Biral upazila. The robber was later found to be a policeman of the upazila.

The next day, SP Shiddiqui Tanjilur Rahman and ASP (Dinajpur sadar circle) Mokbul Hossain with two platoon riot police baton-charged the villagers for attacking the policeman.

Rajshahi DIG Shiddiqur Rahman visited spot later and begged apology to the villagers for the atrocities. The SP, ASP, two OCs were closed in this connection.