Three arrested after 33 Awami League affiliates accused of uprooting trees in Netrokona

Police in Netrokona have arrested three people in a case involving the alleged uprooting of 12 mahogany trees and a reported plan to attack a power substation.

The case names 33 leaders and activists of the Awami League, Jubo League and Chhatra League, which are now banned, as well as 15 to 20 unidentified people. Kalmakanda Police Station Officer-in-Charge Md Mostafizur Rahman confirmed the arrests and said officers were conducting drives for the remaining accused.

According to the case statement, the group gathered in Hirakanda along the Kalmakanda-Thakurakona highway on the night of Aug. 25. It allegedly held a procession and chanted slogans before planning an attack on the Gutura Bazar power substation. The plan was abandoned after the group sensed police presence, the statement said.

The accused allegedly uprooted the trees in Babni while heading toward Kalmakanda Bazar. The trees had been planted beside the road under a tree-planting initiative linked to the prime minister's announced Tk 25-crore programme. Deputy Speaker Barrister Kayser Kamal attended the planting.

The case was filed by police Sub-Inspector Abdul Mannan on Aug. 29 and formally recorded the following day. BNP sources said Kayser Kamal visited the site on Aug. 28 and expressed anger that legal action had not been taken nearly 48 hours after the trees were uprooted. The identities of those arrested were not immediately known.

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Legal proceedings were initiated following instructions from Deputy Speaker Barrister Kayser Kamal.