Chattogram BCL General Secretary Rony resigns after assault video goes viral

A Bangladesh Chhatra League leader in Chattogram has resigned after a video of him assaulting a coaching centre director goes viral on the social media.

Chattogram Bureaubdnews24.com
Published : 19 April 2018, 08:33 PM
Updated : 19 April 2018, 09:14 PM

Rashed Mia, a director of Uniaid coaching centre at the GEC intersection, alleges Chattogram city BCL General Secretary Nurul Azim Rony beat him up in his office on Feb 17 for Tk 2 million in extortion. 

"Rony and his accomplices beat him again on Apr 13," he said in a complaint filed at Panchlaish Police Station on Thursday.

Mohiuddin Mahmud, OC of the station, told bdnews24.com on Friday, “We are investigating the complaint. We will record it as a case if we find the incident true.”

In the soundless video captured by a CCTV camera, Rony is seen speaking to Rashed angrily and slapping the coaching centre director several times.    

Nurul Azim Rony.

Rashed told bdnews24.com Rony and his accomplices had used his office and when he forbade them, the BCL leader demanded the extortion money.

Rony, in a statement, denied the allegation of extortion but said the assault on Rashed was ‘an unpleasant incident’.

He said he had stakes in coaching centre and Rashed filed the complaint following a dispute over the partnership.

He also claimed Rashed had borrowed Tk 950,000 from him but repaid only Tk 35,000.

He claimed Rashed met Mayor AJM Nasir Uddin before filing the complaint.   

The BCL leader, later, posted a photo of his resignation letter on Facebook, saying he was quitting on ‘personal grounds’.

Rony, a supporter of late Chattogram metropolitan Awami League President ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury, had earlier engaged in disputes with Mohiuddin’s rival Mayor Nasir.

He had been freed on bail after being caught with a gun during the 2016 union council polls.

Recently, he spearheaded a movement against extra fees charged by educational institutions in the port city.

He was accused of beating up a college principal during the protests. A video of the incident also went viral on the social media.

Rony and his followers have been vocal against the recent murders of Chattogram BCL leaders Diaz Irfan Chowdhury, Nasim Ahmed Sohel and Sudipta Biswas in separate incidents.