Rajshahi Standoff: DB Police Surround Building as Swechchhasebak Dal Activists Help Injured leader Escape

Rajshahi Metropolitan Detective Branch (DB) police surrounded a six-storey building in the New Market area under Boalia Police Station late Saturday night, where Rajshahi city Swechchhasebak Dal convener Mir Tarek was staying, prompting a tense standoff with party activists. Police withdrew after about two hours, and 55 minutes later supporters took away an injured Tarek, who had reportedly broken his right leg after jumping from one rooftop to another to avoid arrest.

Mir Tarek is an accused in a rickshaw-puller murder case. He has not taken bail, and police have not arrested him. The late-night incident has sparked widespread discussion in Rajshahi, with many questioning the police response. Police now say the accused they had gone to arrest was not there and that Tarek had misunderstood the operation.

Witnesses said Tarek was staying at the residence of Asas, joint convener of the district Chhatra Dal, in the New Market area of Boalia Police Station. At about 10:45pm, a team from the city DB police surrounded the six-storey building. At that point, Tarek jumped from the roof of Asas’s building to the roof of the adjacent building.

According to reports, the jump left Tarek with a broken right leg. Another person with him was also injured in the same way. While stranded on the roof, Tarek posted twice on Facebook, writing: “I am at Asas’s house. DB has surrounded it. Everyone come.”

Party leaders and activists then gathered and sat on the road in front of the building. Tarek watched from the rooftop and also streamed live from his Facebook account.

In the live broadcast, Tarek said: “I despise the law and order system of this country. Today I feel disgusted with myself. We did not get Ilias Ali. We did not get Chowdhury Alam. Today again the law enforcement agencies have come to arrest us without conducting a proper investigation. I am saying that whenever the police call, I will go, but they cannot come to arrest in this way.”

At about 12:30am, police from the local station were also at the scene alongside DB officers, standing in front of the building where Tarek was on the roof. Swechchhasebak Dal leaders and activists chanted slogans including: “If anything happens to Brother Tarek, fire will burn in every home.” They also shouted various slogans against the police.

A Crisis Response Team of Rajshahi Metropolitan Police later arrived carrying batons, creating a brief but tense situation. Eight police vehicles were seen in the surrounding area.

The situation shifted moments later as police gradually moved south from the front of the building toward Aloka Mor and eventually left in their vehicles at 12:55am. One person was heard shouting: “The movie is over. Everyone go. Brother has come out.” About half the activists then dispersed.

At 1:12am, a convoy of about 100 motorcycles arrived from the direction of Aloka Mor, sounding their horns together. Three private cars also stopped in front of the building as supporters prepared to remove the injured Tarek. However, they did not have the key to the collapsible gate of the building onto whose roof he had jumped.

At 1:21am, someone brought a small hammer, but it failed to break the lock. Two minutes later, another person brought a crowbar. There were two CCTV cameras on the ground floor of the building. One person stuffed white cloth in front of one camera, while another held a helmet in front of the other. After holding the helmet there for some time, the second camera was turned in another direction. The lock was broken a few minutes later.

Journalists were waiting to photograph Tarek as he emerged, but several activists approached them and requested that they not switch on their cameras. When some journalists protested, saying they were performing their professional duty, the tone of the activists changed. They threatened to smash phones if anyone started recording. One person abused journalists and said, “Why don’t you beat them and drive them away?” The same person later placed two pieces of brick on the road and declared that bricks would be thrown if cameras were turned on.

At 1:39am, a helmeted man emerged leaning on the shoulders of two others and was quickly taken away on a motorcycle. Tarek then emerged, also wearing a helmet and leaning on the shoulders of two others. He too was lifted onto a motorcycle, after which another person mounted the same bike. The motorcycle quickly headed north, and party activists followed on motorcycles. The identity of the other injured person taken from the building could not be confirmed.

On 21 June, a man named Faisal Bandhan, 30, who is known to stay with Tarek, was shot at Tarek’s rented house in the Chayanir Residential Area under Shah Makhdum Police Station in the city. Police said they recovered an illegal pistol, two magazines, spent bullet casings, cocktails and explosives from the house that day. Police filed a case against unnamed persons over the incident.

Video from the Facebook live while Tarek was trapped on the roof suggested police had gone there to arrest him in connection with that case. In the live, Chhatra Dal leader Asas said: “They are asking us here whose explosives these are, whose weapon this is. How would I know where Bandhan Bhai brought what from?” Tarek, speaking from beside him, said: “Where are the explosives? Whose explosives?”

Asas also showed in the same live that he had spoken on Messenger with Sonia Sheikh, the wife of Bandhan, before DB police arrived. In that exchange, Sonia wrote: “Do not overdo it so much. Everyone knows how you went after him. Give me some time and I will calculate.”

In his Facebook live from the roof, Tarek showed that his right leg had been broken and said he was in severe pain. Just before police withdrew from in front of the building, the live broadcast ended and the video was deleted from his account.

Asked whether the operation to arrest Tarek was linked to the shooting of Bandhan, Rajshahi Metropolitan Police spokesperson Additional Deputy Commissioner Gaziur Rahman said: “No, no. Not that. Police had actually gone to arrest another accused person. That accused was not there. But a leader who was there thought it was an operation to arrest him. It was actually a misunderstanding. After understanding the matter, police left.”

Although Tarek has not been arrested over the Bandhan shooting, he is a named accused in another murder case. On 7 March last year, a rickshaw-puller named Golam Hossain was stabbed to death amid clashes between two BNP groups in the Darikharbona area of the city. Golam’s wife, Paribanu Begum, filed a murder case against six people at Boalia Police Station on 13 March last year. The case number is 13.

Mir Tarek is a named accused in that case. Suman Sardar, convener of Shah Makhdum Thana BNP, is also an accused. Police station sources said no accused has yet been arrested in the case and none has surrendered before the court. In police records, they remain absconding.

Suman Sardar, another “absconding” accused in the eyes of police, was among those who came late Saturday night to rescue Tarek. When the injured Tarek was taken away on a motorcycle, he was seated in the middle and Suman Sardar was seated behind him.

Asked why Tarek was not arrested in the murder case despite the “misunderstanding” over the late-night operation, RMP spokesperson Gaziur Rahman said: “This is a very old case. No comment can be made without looking at what stage the case is in.”

When Mir Tarek’s mobile phone number was called on Sunday afternoon for comment, no connection was made. In his Facebook live on Saturday night, Tarek had said: “If they had called us, we would have gone. We respect the law, we have not fled anywhere. Why would we flee? Why would law enforcement come when we have not done any wrong? I do not accept these law enforcement agencies.”