Extortion Over ₹30 Million Bill Clearance: Two Anti-Discrimination Student Coordinators Released on Undertaking

Staff Correspondent

Two coordinators of the defunct committee of Anti-Discrimination Student movement were arrested by a mob while demanding and lobbying for the release of a project bill worth Tk 3 crore at the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) in Jhalakati district. Later, they were taken into police custody and released on Thursday night, July 31, with the mediation of local political leaders and on written bonds.

The two arrested are Sirajul Islam (24), member secretary of Barisal University’s Baishar, and Mehedi Hasan (25), a student of Barisal Global University. They are active members of Baishar’s Barisal and Jhalokati regions.

It is learned that Sirajul Islam is the son of Nurul Bashar, a fruit trader from Dogalchira village in Nabagram union of Jhalakathi Sadar upazila, and Mehedi is the son of Kalam, a grocery shopkeeper from Kakli intersection in Barishal town.

Tension at LGED office, police intervention

Tensions flared at the Jhalokati LGED office on Thursday afternoon when a bill for a bridge and road construction project was passed. It has been alleged that Sirajul and Mehedi exerted pressure on Shaon Khan, a close associate of Amir Hossain Amu, a former MP from Jhalokati-2 constituency and member of the Awami League advisory council, to pass the bill.

They claim that the project work has been completed and if the bill is not paid, they will seek an answer from the executive engineer.

However, LGED’s Nalchiti Upazila Engineer Iqbal Kabir said that the project work is still incomplete and there is no chance of releasing the bill without the actual contractor. He added, “These two youths repeatedly pressured to release the bill and at one point even offered a bribe.”

The engineers claim that when they refused to pay the bribe, false allegations were spread against them in various departments, and when they came to put pressure again on Thursday, the pro-BNP contractors present detained them and handed them over to the police.

Political mediation in the name of the apsanama

When news of the arrest spread, local BNP, NCP, Jubo Dal and Chhatra Dal leaders rushed to Jhalokati Sadar Police Station in the evening. There, both sides sat down for discussions and signed a compromise agreement.

They were released after the LGED authorities issued a joint statement on white paper stating that the ‘misunderstanding has been resolved’ and that there was no written complaint in the OC’s room. The local leaders of Baishar also signed this statement.

Later, the two coordinators told reporters, “We went to talk about the engineer’s corruption. But there was a misunderstanding. The matter was resolved in front of senior leaders.”

Jhalakathi Sadar Police Station OC Moniruzzaman said that the two were brought to the police station after receiving information from local contractors. The LGED alleged that they had been exerting immoral pressure and harassment for a long time. However, since there was no written complaint and the matter was resolved in the presence of political leaders, they were released on bond.

LGED sources said that the bridge and road construction project was approved in the name of John Shawon Khan, a close associate of former MP Amir Hossain Amur. However, allegations of irregularities and pressure surrounding the progress of the work and the bill process have sparked controversy at the local level.

Regarding the investigation into this matter, Upazila Engineer Iqbal Kabir said, “The matter has been reported to the higher authorities. It is not possible to bill anyone except the actual contractor.”