Several thousand local people kept Rajshahi City Mayor Mizanur Rahman Minu MP, who is in charge of Chapainawabganj district, confined at Kansat until the released leaders reached the scene at about 8:00pm.

Minu told The Daily Star last night that he had rushed to Kansat at the directive of the prime minister and convinced the agitating people to withdraw the barricade put on Chapainawabganj-Sonamasjid road on January 23.

Earlier in the day, local Jamaat leaders including former MP Latifur Rahman, district Ameer Prof Rafiqul Islam, Obaidur Rahman and Saidur Rahman held a meeting with Ariful Haque Titu, a leader of Kansat power subscribers association and arrested leader Golam Rabbani's mother Mansura Begum and wife Shamima Akhtar Parul.

They also met the city mayor at the local circuit house in the afternoon to settle the issue.

First Class Magistrate Sayeed Kutub granted the bail prayers of the arrestees after more than 10 lawyers led by local BNP lawmaker Shahjahan Mia's brother-in-law advocate Abu Hasib submitted a special bail petition for them.

One of the lawyers, advocate Saiful Islam Reza, said, "We moved the bail petition following directives of the mayor and deputy commissioner after a negotiation."

The detained leaders -- Golam Rabbani, Zahir Chowdhury, Monirul Islam Manna, Moslem Uddin, Shyamol Singh, Md Badsha, Md Belal, Abul Kalam Azad and Sanwar Hossain -- were released soon after the court granted them bail.

The mayor told The Daily Star that the families of all the nine dead in January 4 and 23 police firing incidents will be given a compensation of Tk 5 lakh each, seriously injured persons would get Tk 1 lakh and those having minor injuries Tk 50,000 each.

On people's demands for cheaper electricity, he said the issue will be settled soon in a meeting with the power minister and officials of Rural Electrification Board.

Several thousand local people were still on the streets last night when this report was filed. Road communication with the Sonamasjid land port is yet to start as a large number of felled trees still remained on the road and a culvert was left broken.

The road communication with the land port is likely to be restored by this afternoon, said Shibganj upazila nirbahi officer.

The Awami League-led 14-party opposition combine yesterday staged demonstration in Rajshahi against the police atrocities on the rural power subscribers of Kansat and expressed solidarity with the people agitating for cheaper electricity.

LAWYERS PROTEST POLICE ATROCITIES
Lawyers in Chapainawabganj start a movement today protesting police atrocities on rural power subscribers in Kansat. They will refrain from attending courts today and stage demonstration demanding justice and uninterrupted power supply at cheaper rates.

The lawyers have demanded withdrawal of the cases filed against power subscribers association leaders and decided to file a case against the district and police administration for the police action on January 4 and 23 that left nine people killed.

They asked the local administration to form a medical board to investigate if the arrested leaders were tortured inside the jail.

The decisions came at a meeting of the District Bar Association held with its President Ahmadullah Chowdhury in the chair.