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Published : 26 Aug 2024, 04:06 PM
A case has been filed at Dhaka’s Paltan Police Station after Ansar personnel besieged the Secretariat and clashed with students. Cases are also being prepared at the Shahbagh and Ramna police stations.
The clashes occurred at the Secretariat on Sunday. The Ansars occupied the Secretariat gates to push for different demands. Despite discussions with the home advisor, they continued their protests into the evening, when the clashes broke out.
Paltan police have filed a case naming 114 suspects, said Md Khalid Hossain, chief of Paltan Police Station. Another 3,000-4,000 Ansar unidentified Ansar personnel have been named as well.
They have been accused of obstructing government work, rioting, and arson in the case. OC Khalid said 95 people had already been arrested in connection with the case.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police spokesman Additional Commissioner Obaidur Rahman said that cases are also being filed at the Shahbagh and Ramna police stations over the incident.
“Cases against the Ansar personnel taking part in the protests will soon be registered at those police stations. A total of 260 Ansar members have been arrested so far in connection with yesterday’s incident.”
After the fall of the Awami League government, the Ansar personnel took to the streets with demands to nationalise their jobs amid protests for various demands by professionals in different fields.
As part of the protests, Ansar personnel began to rally around the National Press Club on Sunday morning. Later, they surrounded the Secretariat.
Staff at the Secretariat were blocked from leaving. Ansar representatives entered the Secretariat twice for meetings with the interim government’s advisors. Though they received assurances regarding their demands, they demanded a notice be issued immediately.
Around 9pm, after learning that Anti-discrimination Student Movement Coordinator Hasnat Abdullah was trapped inside the Secretariat, students marched there from Dhaka University’s TSC and gave chase to the Ansar personnel. Clashes then began between the two sides.
Students and police eventually dispersed the Ansar personnel. The army went to the scene at night. The people trapped inside the Secretariat throughout the day were finally able to leave.
The Anti-discrimination Student Movement said that more than 60 students had been injured in the clash and demanded the arrest of the attacking Ansars within 24 hours.
Law Advisor Asif Nazrul went to visit the injured students at Dhaka Medical College Hospital on Monday and told the media: “You have seen their [Ansars] war-like attitude. They demanded that they should be nationalised immediately through a notification at 10pm.”
“They [Ansar] raised such an impossible, unrealistic demand to cause unrest. They surrounded the entire Secretariat. Many others may have joined. It could have been a horrific situation.”
