Two Awami League leaders arrested in Dhunat over attack on BNP office
Police in Dhunat, Bogura, have arrested two Awami League leaders in a case filed over an attack, vandalism and cocktail explosions at a BNP party office. They were arrested from their respective areas on Friday afternoon.
On Saturday noon, they were sent to Bogura district jail through the court. Dhunat police station officer-in-charge Atiqul Islam said the two accused, arrested in a case filed under the explosives act, were sent to jail through the court.
The arrested men are Saiful Islam Manju, general secretary of Chowkibari union Awami League in Dhunat upazila, and Rasel Mahmud, joint general secretary of Elangi union Awami League.
According to the case, a workers' meeting of the BNP was under way at a party office in Paschim Bharanshahi village of Dhunat municipal area at around 2pm on 7 June 2023. At that time, Awami League leaders and activists allegedly attacked the office in an organised way, vandalised it and set off cocktails.
In this incident, Asadul Islam, general secretary of the upazila Sramik Dal, filed a case on 26 January 2025, naming 78 Awami League leaders and activists. In that case, Saiful Islam and Rasel Mahmud have been shown arrested as unnamed accused.
OC Atiqul Islam said the two accused arrested in the explosives act case were sent to Bogura district jail through the court. The two leaders were arrested nearly two years after the case was filed, and about three and a half years after the incident itself.
Although 78 people were named as accused in the Dhunat case, Saiful Islam and Rasel Mahmud had not been shown arrested until now. Showing them arrested as unnamed accused is seen as a new turn in the investigation of the case.
With the two now sent to jail through the court, what happens next in the case will depend on the court's decisions. Bail and other legal procedures in the explosives act case will be completed through the court.
