Centring the rape of a girl, violence continued in Khagrachhari amid the imposition of Section 144 on Sunday, leaving three people dead and 13 army personnel injured.
Faisal Hasan, public relations officer of the home ministry, in a statement, said, “The Ministry of Home Affairs has expressed deep sorrow over the death of three hill people and injuries of 13 army personnel, including a major, in miscreants’ attacks. Three policemen, including the officer-in-charge of Guimara police station and many others were injured in the attacks.”
The ministry assured that legal action would be taken against those involved in the incident following probe. “Until then, the ministry has requested all concerned to remain patient.”
Contacted, Faisal Hasan also confirmed the toll of death and injuries to the Daily Sun.
According to intelligence sources, armed members of different outfits, including UPDF (Prasit Bikash Khisa), took stronghold on different roads on Sunday. Many of them fired bullets on the security forces personnel.
An UPDF-backed crowd blocked roads, burnt tires and cut down trees on Sunday morning. Around 10:30am, 50 to 60 protesters hurled bricks and stones aiming at an army patrol team that was removing road blockades in Guimara’s Ramsu Bazar area, the source said.
Shortly after this, some 200 to 300 people gathered on the spot and started attacking the army team, leaving 12 of the team members injured. Even then, the army urged the crowd to move away through loudspeakers, the source further said.
As the crowd did not move away, the army charged batons to disperse them. Following this, the army, however, became more violent. To bring the situation under control, the army patrol team fired 10 to 15 rounds of blank fire to disperse them, the source added.
Some houses and shops were set on fire during the clash in Ramsu Bazar area. Cashing in the clash, around 1:15pm, the UPDF members opened fire on the crowd with automatic weapons, the source further added.
Meanwhile, a clash broke out between the hill people and the BGB personnel around 10:00am when the latter was removing a road blockade. Several members, including a BGB officer, were injured in the clash, said another agency source.
At 9am, 15 to 20 members of UPDF-backed Parbatya Chattogram Pahari Chhatra Parishad (PCP), under the banner of “Jumma Chhatra Janata”, set fire to tree trunks and blocked the road. Seeing an army team on the road the miscreants fled. The army team then doused the flame and cleared the road, the source said.
Several groups of the PCP took positions at Battala, Headman Para and Singuli Para areas. The clashes ensued between the army and hill people in Guimara’s Lavlu Bazar area where 11 army personnel and 3 hill people were injured, the source added.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Marma Unyan Sangshad and Bangladesh Marma Oikya Parishad, who earlier expressed solidarity with the protest over the rape, withdrew themselves from the protest, saying that a vested quarter was using the hill people to hatch unrest.
Following the unrest, CHT Affairs Adviser Supradip Chakma held a views exchange meeting with the local administration, law enforcers and hill council in a conference. He said that the crimes in CHT would not be tolerated.
He stressed that rapists, perpetrators of violence against women, armed groups, and extortionists would face legal action, emphasising that the administration and public representatives must ensure effective measures to avoid future conflicts. “We all want to be non-communal. The environment of the Chittagong Hill Tracts must be preserved.”
Chaired by Deputy Commissioner ABM Iftekharul Islam Khondakar, Khagrachhari Hill District Council Chairperson Shefalika Tripura, Khagrachhari Sadar Zone Commander Lt Col Md Khademul Islam, Superintendent of Police Arefin Jewel, student leaders, representatives of different communities, journalists and religious leaders were present at the conference.
At 10:00pm on Tuesday, a Marma girl, student of grade-VIII, was abducted by some miscreants in Khagrachari on her way home. Police arrested the main accused Shayan Shil with the help of the army’s Khagrachhari headquarters zone the next day.
A six-day remand was granted for him after he was produced before a Khagrachhari court.
After this incident, protests, road blockades and mass gatherings were called in three hill districts under the banner of “Jumma Chhatra Janata” led by Ukhanu Marma.
On Friday, the group organised a demonstration of 1,500–3,000 people, calling for hartals and blockades while inciting anti-army sentiment.
On Saturday, the UPDF-backed groups enforced daylong blockades across Khagrachhari, leading to clashes between hill people and Bengalees.
Although the blockade was lifted later that night following discussions, fresh calls for shutdowns were circulated online, leading to renewed unrest on Sunday.
LND/SAE
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