BNP and Jubo Dal offices set on fire and vandalised in Tungipara, shops attacked and road blocked

BNP and Jubo Dal offices were set on fire and vandalised in Tungipara, Gopalganj, on Saturday night. A personal office and several shops were also attacked and set on fire at the same time. BNP leaders said activists of the banned Awami League and Jubo League and the outlawed Chhatra League carried out the attacks.

Speaking to several local residents, it was learned that at around 8 p.m. on Saturday the attackers first struck several shops in the Khalek Bazar area of the upazila and set them on fire.

They then vandalised and set fire to the Kushli Union BNP office and several nearby shops. At one stage, the BNP office at Nilfa Bazar was attacked, vandalised and set on fire. A personal office of a Jubo Dal leader at Borni Bazar was also vandalised.

After the arson and vandalism, the attackers blocked the Patgati–Gopalganj road by lighting fires at several points from Khalek Bazar in Kushli Union to the Tungipara bus stand. Traffic on the road was disrupted, and panic spread across the area.

Upazila BNP organising secretary Moktar Hossain Molla said by phone at around 11 p.m. on Saturday that several shops at Khalek Bazar had been burned. The Kushli Union BNP office and a Jubo Dal office at Borni Bazar were later set on fire and vandalised, he said, adding that two or three of their leaders and activists were injured in the incident.

Moktar Hossain also said activists of the banned Awami League and Jubo League and the outlawed Chhatra League carried out the rampage from after the Maghrib prayers until 9:30 p.m.

Gopalganj district BNP convener Sharif Rafikuzzaman said on Saturday night that he had learned about the vandalism and arson at the BNP offices.

Attempts were made several times to reach Tungipara police station officer-in-charge Md. Ayub Ali by phone at around 11:16 p.m. on Saturday for his comment, but he did not answer, so his statement could not be obtained.