Protesters demolished homes of Awami League leaders and defaced murals of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in different parts of the country last night and early today.    

Yesterday evening, they demolished the Khulna home of Sheikh Hasina's cousins Sheikh Helal Uddin and Sheikh Salauddin Jewel when the Dhanmondi-32 residence of Sheikh Mujib was being pulled down in Dhaka.

Around 8:30pm, a large crowd, including students and locals, began demolishing the Sheikh Bari in Khulna's Moylapota area.

Thousands of people gathered around the house, chanting "Delhi or Dhaka -- Dhaka, Dhaka" and "Down with Mujibism".

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Dhanmondi 32 house ripped apart

At 9:30pm, when a small excavator failed to break the gate, a larger one was brought in. Many people used sticks and sledgehammers to break down the boundary walls. Around 9:00pm, a fire was seen on the roof of the house.

Ahsan Habib, additional deputy commissioner of Khulna Metropolitan Police, told The Daily Star, "I have seen the news of the incident on Facebook, but I don't have further information."

Sheikh Helal was the former MP of Bagerhat-1 and Sheikh Salahuddin Jewel was the former MP of Khulna-2.

In Kushtia, homes of former lawmaker of Kushtia-3 and Awami League Joint General Secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif and Sadar Khan, president of Kushtia Awami League, were ransacked .

Around 10:00pm, a group of protesters gathered around Hanif's three-storey home on PTI Road with an excavator in tow.

They attempted to break down the structure for about half an hour, but only managed to smash the gate and its supporting pillars.

Another group charged towards Sadar Khan's house around 11:00pm.

Protesters in Chattogram yesterday took out a torch procession to demonstrate against Sheikh Hasina's speech, which was broadcast from Bangladesh Awami League's social media handles last night.

They later defaced Sheikh Mujib's murals at Chittagong Medical College and in the city's Jamal Khan area.

Around 10:00pm, a group of 20-25 people  defaced a small mural in front of the old academic building at Chittagong Medical College. Some of them had hammers in their hands, while others carried stones.

The mural contained a portrait of Mujib.

The procession then moved to the Jamal Khan area. The protesters used hammers to deface a mural of Sheikh Mujib that was on a wall there.

Demonstrators damaged another mural of him in front of Sylhet deputy commissioner's office around 9:30pm. Before that, leaders and activists of Students Against Discrimination held a protest rally, and a sit-in in the Bandar Bazar area around 8:30pm.

Around 1:15am in Rangpur today, the mural of Mujib at Begum Rokeya University was defaced by the protesters.

Witnesses said around 10:00pm, a group of protesters gathered in front of the university's administrative building, wielding hammers and iron rods.

Around 11:50pm, they brought in an excavator and completely tore down the mural.

They also took down the nameplates from Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Hall and Sheikh Fazilatunnessa Mujib Hall.

In Barishal city, demonstrators brought a bulldozer to the house of Serniabat Sadiq Abdullah, former mayor of the city corporation and Sheikh Hasina's relative. He owns a two-storey home in the city's Kalibari Road area.

The demolition process was underway when this report was filed at 1:15am.

Protesters vandalised a mural of Bangabandhu near the Circuit House ground in Mymensingh city with hammers and crowbars around 11:30pm yesterday, reports Prothom Alo.

The "Mujib Mural" of Bangabandhu Hall was also vandalised at the National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam University in Trishal.

The mural of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Fazilatunnesa Mujib at the Chuadanga deputy commissioner's office was demolished around 12:15am today, the Bangla daily added.

In Bhairab, Kishoreganj, the protesters vandalised the mural of Mujib at the upazila Awami League office and at the upazila parishad last night.

[Our correspondents in Khulna, Chattogram, Sylhet, Dinajpur, and Barishal  contributed to this report.]