Report in Prothom Alo, 12 Oct 2023
The police have filed 11 cases against at least 700 members of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Jamaat-e-Islami in Jashore within just five days.
They have already arrested a total of 77 BNP and Jamaat men in connection with the cases. Adding to the concern, there are a significant number of anonymous individuals among the accused.
The police claimed to have filed the cases on specific charges, but local BNP and Jamaat leaders dismissed the claims, instead describing the cases as fictitious. They alleged that the government is using the police force to file the cases in an effort to corner the opposition before the upcoming national polls.
Syed Saberul Haque, member secretary of BNP’s Jashore district unit, expressed his concern over the cases, saying the police are filing fictitious cases against BNP members who were previously trained as polling agents for the national polls in 2018. He sees no logical or legal grounds for the arrest of the BNP men.
However, the additional superintendent of Jashore police (crime), Belal Hossain, claimed that the lawsuits are being filed based on specific crimes. He denied any harassment by the police and said they are arresting only individuals with arrest warrants and those accused in regular cases. ….
https://en.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/local-news/tqcswhen21
