JP head office vandalised, set on fire

The Jatiya Party headquarters at the capital’s Kakrail was set on fire and vandalised last night by a group of people marching under the  banner of “Anti-fascist students, workers, and masses”.
Abdur Rahman, president of Sramik Odhikar Parishad, an associate body of the Gono Odhikar Parishad, said activists of his party were marching with lit torches when some people from the Jatiya Party office building threw brick chunks at them from upstairs.
JP Secretary General Mujibul Haque Chunnu said the allegation of objects being thrown at the procession was “a blatant lie”.
At the scene of the incident around 7:15pm, Abdur told this correspondent that the attack left the marchers incensed and then they vandalised the JP office before setting it alight.
Witnesses said many of the marchers were holding sticks and wearing helmets. Several JP leaders and activists who were at the five-storey building fled when the commotion began.
The procession, led by Abdur and Bin Yamin Mollah, a top leader of Chhatra Odhikar Parishad, started from TSC of Dhaka University, protesting “the ill attempt and anti-state conspiracy of fallen-fascist the Awami League and its enabler Jatiya Party”.
A shopkeeper in Bijoynagar, requesting anonymity, said when the procession was going past the JP office, some of the men hit the shuttered entrance of the building with sticks.
“Some people then came out of the office and chased them away. The two groups threw brick chunks at each other for a while before the marchers broke in and vandalised and set the ground floor on fire,” he added.
Firefighters rushed to the spot and doused the fire around 7:40pm, said Rashed Bin Khaled, duty officer at the Fire Service and Civil Defence.
Masud Alam, deputy commissioner (Ramna) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said no JP members were hurt.
Around 9:00pm, army teams arrived and they, along with police, jointly took control of the situation, dispersing the crowd, witnesses said.
Earlier in the evening, Hasnat Abdullah, a convener of the student movement against discrimination, alleged that armed JP men were beating up students in the Bijoynagar area.
He wrote on Facebook, “We will march at 8:30 from Raju Sculpture to Bijoynagar. National traitors should be wiped out.”
Sarjis Alam, another student leader, made a similar post on his verified Facebook page at 7:34pm, stating that he was in the procession.
Contacted, JP leader Chunnu said, “The people saw on live TV who carried out the attack. They see the sort of democracy or politics [present] in the country when the office of a political party comes under attack.”
When the JP office was attacked, he said, “Our activists resisted and the attackers fled. They regrouped and set fire to our office after half an hour. They even prevented firefighters from dousing the fire.”
Earlier yesterday, the JP announced that it would hold a rally and march in the capital, demanding the withdrawal of cases filed against its leaders and the rising prices of essentials.
The demonstrations were supposed to take place at 2:00pm in Kakrail. JP Chairman GM Quader would have been the main speaker at the event.
In Mymensingh city, a group of students demonstrated in front of the home of JP leader Rowshan Ershad, denouncing the party, reports our correspondent in the district.
Young men set fire to a tyre in front of Rowshan’s residence and blocked the road for almost half an hour around 9:45pm.
Later, police rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control.
The JP will hold a press conference at its Banani office in Dhaka at 11:00am today.