Police detain 19 'AL-backed' UP members from late-night meeting in Cox's Bazar
The detainees, among over a hundred union parishad chairmen and members, participated in a discussion meeting on the role of public representatives in state reform at the ballroom of Uni Resort at Cox's Bazar's Kalatali Hotel-Motel Zone
Police have detained 19 'Awami League-backed' union parishad members from a meeting held late at night in a Cox's Bazar hotel.
The UP members were detained while attending a meeting from the ballroom on the 5th floor of Uni Resort at Kalatali Hotel-Motel Zone in Cox's Bazar around 12:30am today (9 November).
The detainees, among over a hundred union parishad chairmen and members, participated in a discussion meeting on the role of public representatives in state reform at the ballroom of Uni Resort at Cox's Bazar's Kalatali Hotel-Motel Zone.
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"The Awami League-affiliated UP members have been detained from the meeting presided over by BNP leader and Palongkhali UP Chairman M Gafur Uddin," said Foyzul Azim Noman, officer-in-charge of Cox's Bazar Sadar Model Police Station.
"Police conducted a drive based on the information that AL-affiliated UP members were holding a secret meeting at Uni Resort. No permission was taken from the administration for the meeting," he added.
The OC said 15 of the detainees have been shown arrested, and the rest were released.
Jahir Ahmed, a detainee and member of Teknad Sadar union parishad, said, "Around 70 of us were present at the meeting. We were discussing how we could help the country during times of crisis. Police suddenly barged into the meeting and detained us.
"We would not have arranged a meeting at such a big, public place if it was a secret event. We are being harassed," he added.
Selim, a UP member from Maheshkhali who was later released, also denounced the police action.
"We had a discussion meeting in our Members Association on Friday. People from all political parties were there. I strongly condemn the way our brothers have been detained," he said.
Local media workers reported being physically attacked by a group of youths identifying them as members of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement while they were gathering news at the Uni Resort. The attackers attempted to forcibly take their cameras.
Furthermore, the aggrieved media workers claimed that police officers, who were present during the assault, failed to intervene as the journalists were beaten.
Local representatives of The Anti-Discrimination Student Movement denied the allegations, stating that the incident was a result of a misunderstanding.
