Please - Odhikar

police and police station simply took part in the operation, he added.
The post mortem of the deceased was done by Assistant Registrar Dr. Motaharul Islam in
Kushtia General Hospital. He denied to tell anything about the cause of death of the victims.
The Magistrate Abdul Aziz Mia, who ordered to shoot at the crowd, after describing the
incident, commented that when the villagers became violent and were about to attack, the police
force started to retreat. But there was no sufficient space for turning around which forced them
to take to the paddy fields. Then villagers surrounded them with sticks and machetes and started
throwing stones at them. Police then lobbed tear gas to disperse them. But the crowd became a
violent mob and they burnt a fire and cut tires of a police lorry. Police then fired 69 rounds of
rubber bullets. Ten policemen were injured. The magistrate himself got injured on the right side
of his face and his leg. Failing to bring the situation under control, he ordered to open fire on the
crowd. He claimed that without doing so, it was not possible to save life and property.
The District Commissioner of Kushtia, Jamal A. Naser Chowdhury also commented that the
magistrate instructed to shoot as last resort. He further stated that a one-member investigation
commission comprising of Additional District Commissioner M A Ahad has been formed and
the commission has started working. The commission has been instructed to submit its report in
week. Executive investigation would also take place, he added.
It has been revealed that the clash between police and local villagers is nothing new in the area.
Inefficiency and negligence of the sugar mill authorities are responsible for this. They do not
provide permits regularly to the farmers or develop any list for supply of sugar cane to the sugar
mill. Uncertainty in sugar cane collection forces farmers to crush sugar cane illegally.
Two cases have been filed in this regard. The case particulars are:
� case # 25, plaintiff Habibur Rahman, Manager sugar cane collection, Jagti SugarMills,
Kushtia, Sections 143/341/332/333/353/307/427/34 Penal Code, dated 28/12/05, specific
accused 13 and unknown accused 250-300.
� case # 26, plaintiff Babar Ali, Gaccher Deoar, Section 326/302 Penal Code, dated 28/12/05
Murder of Two Young Men in Khulna
On 26 November, Odhikar received information from the local human rights defender in Khulna
regarding the death of two young men by police in Khulna. Odhikar did a fact-finding of the
incident and talked to family of the victims, local journalists, police administration and
inhabitants.
One of the victims was Bulbul Haoladar (30), son of Ismail Haoladar (60) and Aleya Begum.
The mother and younger brother of Bulbul told Odhikar that Bulbul was unmarried. He had a
video shop business near Hotel Alishan in Goborchaka area of Khulna. According to them, on
22 November, at around 11 am, a group of plain-cloth policemen, identifying themselves as
detective police, came and took Bulbul away in a microbus. For the next two days, his family
members could not trace him despite a rigorous search. On 25 November, at around 9 am, police
from Sonadanga police station came and informed them that the deadbody of Bulbul was found
lying behind Khulna Medical College. Bulbul's family members immediately rushed to the spot
and found the body there. Bulbul's brother Jewel informed Odhikar that they found a group of
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