Three rights and student activists who addressed a rally in Kawkhali upazila town in Rangamati demanding justice for Kalpana Chakma were attacked allegedly by a group of unidentified Bengali people at Betchari under the upazila Thursday afternoon.
The Hill Women鈥檚 Federation organised the rally on the occasion of 29 years of Kalpana Chakma鈥檚 disappearance.
The victims, rights activist Marzia Prova, University of Liberal Arts lecturer Oliur Sun, and Revolutionary Students鈥� Unity鈥檚 Dhaka University unit president Nuzia Hasin Rasha, came under attack while they were returning to Dhaka after attending the rally in Kawkhali upazila town.
Speakers at the rally demanded punishment for the abductors of Kalpana Chakma, the then organising secretary of the Hill Women鈥檚 Federation. Kalpana was abducted in 1996 and never returned.
The victims said that a group of three unidentified Bengali men in a motorcycle waylaid their vehicle at Betchari under Kawkhali upazila and attacked them at about 4:00pm.
They said that Oliur was injured in his eye while the attackers grabbed and twisted Rasha鈥檚 wrist.
The Hill Women鈥檚 Federation and the Parbatya Chattogram Nari Sangha in a statement on Thursday said that the attackers threatened the trio to take to the security forces and the law enforcement agencies.
鈥楤ut when the victims refused to go with them, the attackers left the place and let them go,鈥� the statement read.
The statement condemned the attack and demanded punishment for the attackers.
Kawkhali police station officer-in-charge Saiful Islam said that the victims called him to inform the incident but the place of occurrence was not clear as the Betchari area was under the jurisdiction of two police stations.
鈥業 sent a team to the area of Betchari that falls under my police station鈥檚 jurisdiction but no such incident occurred there. We are trying to verify the location and necessary steps will be taken accordingly鈥� he said.
The Democratic Students鈥� Alliance, a combine of seven left student organisations, staged a demonstration on the Dhaka University campus protesting at and condemning the attack.
The Revolutionary Students鈥� Unity, the United People鈥檚 Democratic Front, its youth organisation Democratic Youth Forum and students鈥� organisation Pahari Chhatra Parishad in separate statements condemned the attack.
