113 sued over alleged Awami League rally in Jashore

Police in Jashore have filed a case against 113 people, including a former state minister and five former lawmakers, over an alleged Awami League procession on August 28.

The case also names 250 to 300 unidentified people. Sub-Inspector Shafiqul Islam of the Old Kasba police outpost filed it with Jashore Kotwali Model Police Station. Police arrested former councillor Rajibul Islam Raj in connection with the incident, and a court later sent him to jail.

The prominent accused include former local government, rural development and cooperatives state minister Swapan Bhattacharya, along with former MPs Shaheen Chakladar, Kazi Nabil Ahmed, Ranjit Roy, Monirul Islam and Yakub Ali.

According to the case statement, Awami League activists held what police described as an anti-government and subversive procession on the road toward Palowan Bari in Jashore city’s Kajipara-Kataltala area. Police said their preliminary investigation found that the rally sought to create public resentment over electricity supplies and obstruct the incumbent government’s development activities.

Officers who went to the area said the processionists fled, leaving behind a banner reading “National Mourning Day.” The case remains under investigation, and police operations continue to identify and arrest both the named and unidentified accused.