RAB arrests cousin of youth who protested in front of Ganabhaban

RAB has arrested the cousin of the youth who stood in front of the Ganabhaban to draw Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s attention to what he said was grabbing of land by influential people in Narayanganj.

Staff and Narayanganj Correspondentsbdnews24.com
Published : 2 August 2015, 09:40 PM
Updated : 3 August 2015, 03:02 AM

Abul Kalam Azad from Panchamighat in Narayanganj’s Sonargaon alleged elite police unit beat him up, his cousin ‘Sohel’ before arresting him on Sunday night.
 
RAB denied the allegation of beating Sohel and said he was arrested with Yaba pills.
 
Azad stood for hours in front of the prime minister’s official residence in the morning with a placard that read “I Want Justice”. 
 
He said he left the place when police asked him to do so. bdnews24.com ran a report on the incident.
 
Later in the night, he called bdnews24.com to say RAB raided his house at Sonargaon.
 

“They beat me up severely and took away my uncle and cousin,” Azad said.
The law enforcers freed his uncle but kept cousin Sohel under detention.
RAB-11 Commander Lt Col Anwar Latif Khan told bdnews24.com Sohel was a Yaba peddler.
“My team found Yaba in his pocket. The pills were also found in his house. The drive was conducted in presence of the neighbours and relatives,” he said.
The RAB official claimed there was no connection between the arrest of Sohel and Azad’s standing in front of the Ganabhaban.
“We didn’t go there to settle any issue regarding land; that’s not our job. We went to catch an accused with Yaba,” he added.
Azad, however, thinks that his ‘protest’ was the reason behind the drive.
“I protested when everyone was silent. Is it my offence? I just wanted to convey my message to the prime minister,” he said.
“Can’t I even protest because I am poor?” he asked.