‘A lot of police have been deployed in front of my house. They literally blocked my car with their van when I tried to get out’
BNP standing committee member Barrister Moudud Ahmed says the police did not permit him to greet people on Eid or attend iftar parties during Ramadan.
On his way to Dhaka from Noakhali on Sunday morning, the former minister registered this complaint on the phone with this reporter.
“The police have behaved like that with me despite the fact that I am a former minister and Member of Parliament. Obaidul Quader and I have the same electoral constituency, and that is why they have done this. If this is the state in my own region, you can imagine what the state of the country is. There is only talk of democracy – none in practice,” Moudud said.
On Eid day, Moudud Ahmed was restricted by police to his house in the village of Manikpur in Sirajpur union of Companiganj upazila in Noakhali.
“It is clear to me now that this government is completely detached from the people. They are afraid of the people, and are thus restricting me from meeting people,” he said.
Addressing the law enforcement officials restricting him to his house, the senior politician said: “I told them that if I have done anything wrong, arrest me, send me to jail. If not, let me go. They did not listen to me. I spoke to the officer-in-charge (OC) and the superintendent of police (SP), but they only said they would not let me go.
“A lot of police have been deployed in front of my house. They literally blocked my car with their van when I tried to get out,” Moudud added.
Asked about the deployment of extra police in front of Moudud Ahmed’s house, district Superintendent of Police Md Ilias Sharif said: “Moudud Ahmed is an important politician. We put policemen outside his house to protect him. Moreover, we asked him not to leave the house as he was headed to a BNP meeting in close proximity to an Awami League meeting, which would create a volatile situation. We also received intelligence that he might face trouble if he left his house before dusk, so we requested him to stay indoors as a protective measure. It is untrue that we restricted him.”
Previously, at a press conference on June 11, the barrister complained that police had prevented him from going out to meet people of his constituency, where he was elected Member of Parliament (MP) five times before.
“Police station OCs called my assistants and told them I would not be allowed to leave. I am being restricted from attending meetings and meeting people in my own constituency,” Moudud said.
Source: Dhaka Tribune
