Six Palli Bidyut officials placed on 3-day remand
The PBS employees are- Rajon Kumar Das, Asaduzzaman Bhuiyan, Dipak Kumar Singha, Rahat, Monir Hossain and Belal Hossain
A Dhaka court has placed six officials of Palli Bidyut Samity (PBS) on three-day remand each in two separate sedition cases filed against them for their alleged role in destabilising the power sector.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Farzana Shakila Sumu Chowdhury passed the order on Friday (18 October) as police produced the six accused before the court and pleaded for 10-day remand for each of them, reports BSS.
The officials are — Monir Hossain, assistant general manager (AGM) of Netrokona PBS; Rajan Kumar Das, AGM of Munshiganj PBS, Asaduzzaman Bhuiyan, deputy general manager (DGM) of Brahmanbaria PBS, Deepak Kumar Singh, DGM of Cumilla PBS, Md Rahat, DGM of Magura PBS (Shreepur Zonal Office), and Belal Hossain, DGM of Sirajganj PBS-2.
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Of the six, Belal Hossain was accused in one sedition case, while the five others were accused in the other case.
Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board (BREB) Director (admin) Arshad Hossain filed the cases against 10 PBS officials with Khilkhet Police Station in Dhaka on 17 October. Later, police arrested six accused.
In the case documents, the plaintiff alleged that some misguided officials and employees of Palli Bidyut Samity were conspiring to destabilise the power sector. He accused them of obstructing power operations with the support of ministers, members of parliament, and influential people of the previous government.
PBS officials and employees have been protesting for several months over various demands, including the unification of the BREB and PBS, the implementation of a unified service code, and permanent employment for contractual and irregular employees.
In response, the BREB dismissed 20 PBS officials on 17 October, leading to protests and power outages across the country.
According to a media release by the protesters, they have demanded the removal of the BREB chairman, the cancellation of the dismissal orders, and the withdrawal of the false cases within 24 hours, threatening a long march to Dhaka if their demands are not met.
