Stranded Pakistanis, locally known as Biharis, on Sunday brought out a procession at the city’s Mirpur area to protest Saturday’s violence in the ‘Bihari Camp’ at Kalshi that left 10 people dead.
The protesters, during the procession, blocked the Pallabi-Mirpur roads for several hours that led to disruption in traffic movement on the streets. Biharis from ‘Geneva Camp’ in the city’s Mohammadpur area also joined the protest.
The agitators pressed for several demands include immediate handover of the bodies to their relatives, release of the arrested and punishment for those responsible for the violence.
Pointing fingers at local lawmaker Elias Uddin Mollah over the violence, the Biharis alleged that the lawmaker’s men took advantage of the situation that left 10 people killed, including nine who were burnt alive.
They also see the incident as a ploy to grab the land belonging to Bihari camp, electricity and water supply business.
The camp inmates of Mirpur started the protests around 10:30am, Police’s Pallabi zone Assistant Commissioner Md Kamal Hossain said.
Pallabi Police Station’s Officer in-Charge Md Ziauzzaman told The New Nation that the agitating Biharis vandalized two passenger buses during their protest.
The people in the procession chanted slogans against the local lawmaker and urged the government to bring him to the book. They also demanded fair trial of the incident, he added.
Meanwhile, six cases were filed with Pallabi Police Station on Sunday in connection with Saturday’s violence in the ‘Bihari Camp’ at Kalshi in Mirpur.
Police filed two cases while camp inmates the remaining cases.
The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) later handed over the cases to Detective Branch (DB) of Police for investigation.
Confirming the matter, Towhidul Islam, senior assistant police commissioner (West Zone of DMP) said that the six cases filed separately over the Mirpur violence have been handed over to DB police for investigation.
Yasin Gazi, operation officer and a sub-inspector (SI) of Pallabi Police Station, said that six cases, including one for killing and another one for police assault, were filed against over 1,200 unnamed people in connection with the violence at Kalshi and its surrounding areas.
Sub-inspector of the police station Mominul filed the murder case while SI Jahid filed the police assault case.
Besides, a local man, Mobarak, filed another case against some unidentified people for vandalising a local mosque during the violence on behalf of the mosque committee.
Yet another local man, Faruk, filed a case against over 800 people for stabbing him at Baunia Bandh and looting his shop during yesterday’s incident.
Parvez, a resident of Mirpur-11, filed the fifth case against 200 to 300 people as some people attacked him during the violence, while Apu, a resident of Paris Road of Mirpur-11 filed the last one for attacking him the same day.
At least nine members of a family were burnt to death when eight Bihari homes at Kalshi were torched following a clash between Biharis and law enforcers, allegedly accompanied by locals.
Another person with rubber-bullet pellet injuries, reportedly from police firing, died of his wounds in hospital yesterday.
Locals said the clashes erupted between two groups of Urdu-speaking Muslims in the Bihari camp and local Bangalis.
The almost three-hour-long clash ensued after Fazr prayer in front of a mosque following arguments as some Bihari youths had exploded firecrackers on the occasion of Shab-e-Barat defying requests of the devotees and the police.
