36 cops sued over killing of Bhola Swechchasebak Dal leader

Thirty-six policemen including the officer-in-charge of Bhola model police station were sued over the death of Swechchasebak Dal activist Abdur Rahim in "police firing" during a clash between BNP activist and police.

The case was filed at Senior Judicial Magistrate Ali Haider's court on Thursday following a complaint of Abdur Rahim's wife Khadiza Begum.

Bhola Model Police station OC Arman Haque was made the main accused in the case, said plaintiff's lawyer Amirul Islam Baset.

According to the complaint, on 31 July, Abdur Rahim was shot dead by OC Arman Hossain as a clash broke out between police and BNP activists during a demonstration of the party and its likeminded political groups against the ongoing load shedding and mismanagement in the power sector.

The case was filed under section 302 and 304 of the Penal Code, he said.

However, OC Arman Hossain told UNB he was not yet informed of any case filed against him in this regard.

"I was performing my duty on that day and was not intending to hurt anyone. The rally was illegal. BNP activists rather attacked police, opened fire on them and injured our members," he said.

On Sunday, as part of BNP's countrywide demonstration programme the leaders and activists of the party gathered in front of their district party office in Bhola.

At one stage, police obstructed them when they tried to stage demonstrations at Kalinath Roy Bazar around 11:30am, triggering a clash.

Later, police fired bullets and lobbed teargas shells that left local Swechchasebak Dal leader Abdur Rahim dead and some other leaders and activists of the party injured including Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) district unit president Noor-e-Alam.

Noor-e-Alam succumbed to his injuries on Wednesday at a hospital in Dhaka.

On Thursday, BNP observed a 6-hour general strike in Bhola protesting the killing of the JCD leader.