Protesters on Monday attacked and vandalised several government offices, including two police stations and the upazila parisahd complex at Bhanga in Faridpur, protesting against the Jatiya Sangsad constituency boundary changes.
The protesters blocked both the Dhaka鈥揔hulna and Bhanga鈥揃arishal highways for about five hours, bringing the traffic movement on the highways to a complete halt.
Thousands of enraged locals, armed with sticks, machetes, and sharp weapons, stormed the upazila parishad complex, the Bhanga police station, and the Bhanga Highway police station between 12:00pm and 2:00pm, witnesses and officials said.
The violence erupted a day after the home affairs adviser retired Lieutenant General Jahangir Alam Chowdhury on Sunday issued a stern warning against the Faridpur agitation, urging the protesters to resolve the issue by themselves or face legal action.
The protesters also allegedly attacked police personnel and journalists who were on duty on the spot and reportedly snatched away cell phones of journalists and tried to physically assault them.
Bhanga upazila nirbahi officer Md Mizanur Rahman told 抖阴精品 that the protesters vandalised manythings and destroyed some government documents in almost every office at the upazila parishad complex.
鈥楾hey vandalised chairs, tables, windows, and even computers in the offices. They also attacked the police and journalists. Some of them might have been hurt during the attacks,鈥� he said.
At about 8:45pm, Mizanur also said, the Dhaka Range deputy inspector general of police, the Faridpur district deputy commissioner, and the Faridpur superintendent of police sat in a meeting following the incident.
Filing a case regarding the incident was under way, he said.
鈥楾he situation is under control now and an adequate number of law enforcers, including two platoons of Border Guard Bangladesh members, has been deployed in the area,鈥� added the UNO.
According to upazila administration officials and the police, the protesters took control of the Bhanga police station and its surrounding areas while law enforcers tried to disperse the protesters, but failed.
When the police tried to bring the situation under control, they were chased by the protesters.
The police members later took shelter inside the Bhanga model mosque, before returning to the police station 10鈥�5 minutes later.
The attacks came following their blockade of the highways and railways for the second consecutive day on Monday as part of their protest at the Election Commission decision to shift two unions from Bhanga upazila to Nagarkanda upazila in Faridpur in the fresh delimitation of constituencies.
Meanwhile, MM Siddiq Mia, chairman of Algi Union Parishad and chief coordinator of the All-Party Unity Council, formed around the protests, was arrested on Saturday in a police case filed against 240 people in connection with protests and blockades in Bhanga upazila of Faridpur.
Bhanga highway police station officer-in-charge Md Rokibuzzaman said that the vehicular movement was normal till 11:00am but suddenly thousands of protesters blocked the roads.
Following the blockade, the traffic movement on both the Dhaka鈥揔hulna and Bhanga鈥揃arishal highways came to a complete halt, causing serious sufferings for passengers on the road.
Later, protesters vandalised many government offices, including offices inside the Bhanga upazila parisahd complex, and the Bhanga highway police stations, setting several vehicles on fire, he said.
The protesters left the spots at about 4:00pm and the vehicular movement became normal as of 8:00pm, added the police official.
On September 4, the Election Commission published the revised boundaries of the 300 parliamentary constituencies ahead of the coming 13th national parliamentary elections.
As per the new demarcation, Algi and Hamirdi unions of Bhanga upazila, previously part of the Faridpur-4 constituency, have been transferred to Faridpur-2, which covers Nagarkanda and Salta upazilas.