Poet Radhapada Roy attacked while fishing, admitted to Kurigram's hospital

Rural poet Radhapada Roy was attacked by two assailants while fishing near Madhaikhal village in Nageshwari upazila of Kurigram on Saturday (30 September). 

He was rescued by locals and taken to the Nageshwari Upazila Health Complex, said Nageshwari police station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Ashiqur Rahman, reports The Daily Star.

Radhapada filed a case against Kadu Mia, 42, and his younger brother Rafiqul Islam, 36, said the OC of Nageshwari Police Station. However, no one has yet been arrested, said the OC.

Regarding the incident, Radhapada, "I still don't know why I was attacked. The attacker has no enmity with me. Kadu and Rafiqul are residents of our nearby village Kachuarpar. They don't like music. They are supporters of Jamaat-e-Islami.

"When Rafiqul was beating me with the bamboo stick, he was saying 'nothing will happen if I beat a Hindu poet', he added.

According to police, the poet went to fish at a nearby canal on Saturday morning. Kadu Mia instructed his younger brother Rafiqul to beat the poet with a bamboo stick. He fled the scene after locals rushed to the area. 

OC Ashiqur said police were working to arrest the accused. "We are investigating to find out the actual reason as to why poet Radhapada was attacked". 

Cultural activist Kumar Bishwajit Barman said Radhapada Roy has written over 100 spiritual poems and he is known as a Charan poet in the area.

"Radhapada was attacked to suppress his literary work," he said. "If the police do not arrest the attackers and bring them under the law, we will demonstrate."

Bhitarband Union Parishad Chairman Shafiqul Islam Shafi said the poet had an argument with Rafiqul's elder brother Kadu Mia around seven months ago.

"I met the poet in the hospital," he said.Poet Radhapada Roy attacked while fishing, admitted to Kurigram's hospital.