On tour in Dinajpur, accused over clash in Dhaka
Armanul Hoque says he was in Dinajpur's Khansama upazila yesterday when a clash took place between police and anti-rape protesters in front of the Hotel InterContinental hotel in Dhaka.
Yet, police have implicated him in a case for attacking law enforcers.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Arman, convenor of the Dhaka University unit of Bangladesh Chhatra Federation, is the fourth among twelve accused in the case filed by Sub-inspector Abul Khair of Ramna Police Station.
At least 70 other unnamed protesters were also made accused in the case.
"I have been on an organisational tour in the northern districts since February 27… I was over 300 kilometres from Dhaka, yet I have been falsely implicated in the case," Arman told The Daily Star this evening, claiming he was speaking from Naogaon.
"This seems like a continuation of the way the police used to file false cases against opposition leaders and activists during the fascist regime," he added.
Arman is not the only one implicated in an incident that allegedly happened in his absence.
Another accused, Mashiur Rahman Richard, president of Bangladesh Chhatra Federation, claimed he was not in the protest either.
"I was in Dhanmondi at the time but police filed a false case against me," he told The Daily Star.
Yesterday, several individuals, including protesters and police members, were injured as a clash took place when anti-rape protesters attempted to break a police barricade and submit a memorandum to Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus at his residence.
In the case statement, Khair stated that police barred the protesters in front of the hotel and requested them not to create obstacles for the sake of the security of the Chief Adviser's residence and to keep the traffic flow uninterrupted on the road.
Ignoring the call, the protesters wielded sticks and attempted to break the barricade, attacking police members and hurling brick chunks on them, leaving seven police personnel injured, according to the case statement.
Protester, however, said earlier that it was police who attacked their peaceful protest.
Asked about the inclusion of Arman and Richard in the case even though they claim they were not present during the clash, SI Khair told The Daily Star, "We filed the case after collecting information following the attack. If there is any mistake, the investigation officer will correct it during the probe."
Comments