No case filed a day after attack on Nasiruddin Patwary in Kushtia
The NCP alleges police delayed accepting its complaint, while the OC says no written complaint has been submitted.
No case has been filed a day after National Citizen Party (NCP) Chief Coordinator Nasiruddin Patwary was attacked at the Lalon Shah shrine in Kushtia's Kumarkhali.
The NCP alleged that its leaders waited at Kumarkhali Police Station for nearly four hours to file a case, but police did not accept their complaint.
Police, however, said they could not register a case as they had not received a written complaint.
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Patwary was attacked at the shrine yesterday evening (4 October). The NCP alleged that Kushtia municipal unit Chhatra Dal leader Sangram Hossain and his followers were behind the attack.
Following the incident, NCP Kushtia district Convener Jannatul Ferdous Tony, Member Secretary Sultan Maruf Talha and other party leaders and activists went to Kumarkhali Police Station at around 9pm.
They said they remained there until around 1am but returned without being able to file a case.
Tony said they spoke several times with the officer-in-charge (OC) of the police station and the superintendent of police, but the authorities delayed accepting the complaint.
He said they faced difficulties preparing the complaint as nearby shops were closed due to the late hour. They later asked the OC to help type the complaint on a computer at the police station, but he initially agreed and subsequently delayed the process, Tony alleged.
Tony also claimed that they were confined inside the police station while leaders and activists of BNP and its affiliated organisations gathered outside and chanted slogans against them.
They returned to Kushtia town around 1am under police escort, he said.
NCP Member Secretary Sultan Maruf Talha alleged that police had delayed the case from the beginning. He said the OC told them around midnight that the complaint could not be written at the police station.
Kumarkhali Police Station OC Jamal Uddin denied the allegations.
"We have not received any written complaint so far. If they had brought a written complaint, I would have accepted the case," he said.
Denying that police had refused to help prepare the complaint on the station's computer, the OC said, "I do not know who attacked them or how the attack took place. They know the details, so they should write everything and bring it to us."
He also denied that NCP leaders and activists had been confined inside the police station.
"BNP, Jamaat and NCP leaders and activists were inside the police station. When they informed us that they felt insecure, we escorted them to Kushtia town after 1am," he said.
Meanwhile, the NCP had scheduled a protest march from the Kushtia Public Library field this afternoon (5 October) to protest the attack.
Party leaders and activists gathered there around 4:30pm, but Kushtia Model Police Station stopped them from holding the march, citing security concerns.
According to local and party sources, Patwary went to Akhrabari around 6pm yesterday on a personal visit and was attacked at the entrance to the shrine at around 7:20pm.
Kushtia district Chhatra Dal Convener Mozakkir Rahman Rabbi denied the allegation against the organisation, saying Chhatra Dal does not believe in mob politics.
"If anyone from Chhatra Dal is found involved in the incident, legal action will be taken against them," he said.
Patwary did not speak to the media after the attack when journalists tried to talk to him.
