BGB major accused of assaulting executive magistrate amid labour unrest

A Border Guard Bangladesh official has allegedly beaten up an executive magistrate while both were on duty amid a readymade garment worker unrest in Savar on the outskirts of Dhaka.

The magistrate, Md Razibul Islam, received treatment at Savar Upazila Health Complex, one of his colleagues said.

But the BGB official in question, Major ‘Rahmat’, has denied the allegation. 

Razibul has filed a complaint with the deputy commissioner of Dhaka seeking justice.

Bangladesh Administrative Service Association or BASA, the organisation of government officers, has demanded punishment of the BGB official.

Razibul said in the complaint that he had gone to Ulail after the workers of Al Muslim Garment joined the protests for a pay hike.

BGB personnel were already deployed there to control the situation.

Razibul said he and Rahmat had an altercation when he asked the BGB official to seek his permission first after Rahmat had ordered the troops to open fire on the protesters.

At one stage of the altercation, the BGB official started punching and kicking me and swore at me, Razibul alleged in the complaint.

“It’s totally false,” Rahmat told bdnews24.com about the allegation raised by Razibul.

The army officer working in the border force denied commenting more and asked the reporter to contact the Inter Services Public Relations Directorate or ISPR, the media agency of the armed forces.

Alamgir Kabir, a director at the ISPR, said the directorate would not comment on the issue because BGB was an independent force. He also advised that the BGB be contacted.

Mohsin Reza, a public relations officer at the BGB, told bdnews24.com he was not aware of the incident and suggested BGB Additional Director General Khandaker Farid Hasan be contacted, but he was not available on phone.

Water Resources Secretary and BASA General Secretary Kabir Bin Anwar told bdnews24.com that they were investigating the “unexpected” incident.  

“The person responsible for the incident will be punished as per the law after investigations,” he said and added they found involvement of Rahmat in the incident in the preliminary investigation.