Case filed against college principal, six others over teacher’s alleged torture

A case has been filed against seven people, including the principal of Pahartali College in Chattogram, over the alleged abduction and torture of a lecturer at the institution.

Bangla department lecturer Md Mizanur Rahman Chowdhury filed the case with Khulshi Police Station on Thursday. Four to five unidentified people have also been accused.

The accused named in the case include college principal Shyamal Kanti Majumder, Waqil Hossain Baga, Faisal alias “Murgi Faisal”, Imon, Sajid, Salah Uddin Kader and Monir Ahmed.

According to the case statement, Mizanur and his colleagues had raised allegations of irregularities and corruption at the college and submitted written complaints to several government offices. The Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education and the Chattogram Education Board are investigating the allegations.

The lecturer alleged that after he spoke to journalists on August 24 about alleged irregularities involving the principal, he began receiving threats. Following publication of a report on August 29, three accused allegedly went to his residential room and asked him to meet the principal and Waqil Hossain Baga.

When he refused, they allegedly threatened to beat and kill him. They later forced their way into his room, assaulted him and took Tk12,000, according to the complaint.

The lecturer further alleged that he was forced into a vehicle and taken to a purported torture cell in the Wireless area, where he was beaten with iron rods, sticks and a hammer. He claimed his right-hand finger was fractured and he suffered injuries to his wrist, back, waist and other parts of his body.

He also alleged that the attackers demanded Tk10 lakh from him to allow him to continue his job and pressured him to withdraw complaints filed with government agencies and issue a rebuttal to media reports. He was allegedly threatened with death if he refused.

The complaint says he was later left at Wireless intersection and went to Chattogram Medical College Hospital with the help of passers-by. He was admitted around 9:40pm and received treatment.

Meanwhile, police launched an operation in the Wireless intersection and Pahartali areas early Friday to arrest Waqil Hossain Baga. Police said supporters of Baga blocked the road and attacked them with bricks, bottles and cocktail-like explosives, damaging the Khulshi OC’s official vehicle.

Khulshi Police Station OC Mohammad Abdur Rahim said five to six police officers, including himself, were injured in the attack.

He said additional police have been deployed in the area and efforts are underway to arrest Baga and the other accused.

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