BCL leader runs wild

A video clip where Chittagong City Chhatra League General Secretary Nurul Azim Rony is seen assaulting another man inside a room was doing the rounds on Facebook yesterday.

In the clip, the man, Uniaid Coaching Centre Director Rashed Miah, looks helpless. Sitting in a chair, he apparently begs Rony to stop but the assault continues.

A furious Rony is seen slapping Rashed time and again, grabbing him by the hair.

At one point, the BCL leader goes outside the room and comes back a little later. He then lights a cigarette and talks to someone over phone. Hanging up the phone, he starts slapping Rashed again.

In the 6:02-minute clip, Rony is seen slapping Rashed 13 times.

The assault took place at Rashed's office in GEC intersection area of the port city in the afternoon of February 17, the Uniaid director said in his complaint filed with Panchlaish Police Station yesterday.

The Daily Star could not independently verify the authenticity of the clip.

After the clip went viral yesterday, Rony, in a statement posted on Facebook, said he has stepped down from his post.

Rashed claimed he was beaten as he had refused to pay Rony extortion money.

Rony, however, claimed he and Rashed were business partners and that the two had “some quarrel” after which both of them became “a little excited”.

He also urged the central committee of BCL, pro-Awami League student body, to “take care of the matter”.

Contacted, BCL President Saifur Rahman Sohag said Rony was relieved of his post over the incident.

Talking to The Daily Star, Rashed said, “Showing his political might, Rony would sit in my office room on the ground floor of Gafur Mansion.

“Sitting there, he would do his personal work and many misdeeds. It hampered the academic environment of the coaching centres,” he said, adding that he had no “business relation” with Rony.

Rashed claimed that as a means of protest, he kept the office room locked in the morning of February 17. However, Rony along with his followers broke into the room. 

“Hearing about it, I rushed to my office in the afternoon and asked Rony why he had broken the lock.

“Furious, Rony started slapping me. He demanded Tk 20 lakh in extortion. He said I must pay him that amount if I wanted to do business in the area,” he said.

Rashed further alleged that Rony along with his followers allegedly picked him up on April 13 from the port city's Mohammadpur Mazar area and took him to the BCL leader's office in Muradpur area. There, he and his men allegedly demanded Tk 20 lakh from Rashed.

In the complaint, Rashed said as he told them that he could not pay them such a huge amount of money, Rony allegedly tried to hit him in the head with a hockey stick. Rashed moved away and the hockey stick struck his ear, leaving him severely wounded. 

Rashed further alleged that Rony and other “musclemen” beat him indiscriminately there. At one stage, he agreed to give them Tk 40,000 and assured them of paying the rest later. 

At this, the “attackers” allegedly took the Uniaid director to his home in the city's Sugandha area and took his passport along with Tk 35,000 in cash, saying he would get it back once he made the full payment, according to the complaint. 

Rashed told the police that he was late in filing the complaint as he was admitted to a hospital and could not come out of home amid threats from the accused.

This correspondent tried several times to reach Rony over phone but he did not pick up the calls.

In his statement found on Facebook, Rony denied the allegations. He called Rashed his business partner and accused him of trying to embezzle over Tk 9 lakh.

He also alleged that efforts were being made to confuse people by circulating the video footage of an incident that took place two months ago.

Rashed said these were not true.

“There are no business relations between Rony and me. He is doing all the things using his political identity.

“I have the CCTV footage of the February 17 incident where Rony is seen beating me repeatedly. I attached some photos of the CCTV footage with the complaint,” added Rashed.

Contacted, Mohiuddin Mahmud, officer-in-charge of Panchlaish Police Station, confirmed that Rashed filed a complaint against Rony.

“We have started our investigation. We will take action if the allegation turns out to be true,” he said.

Earlier on March 31, Jahed Khan, principal of Chattagram Bigyan College situated in Chawk Bazar area, was allegedly assaulted by Rony when he went to the college along with his fellow BCL men protesting “extra fees” being taken from the HSC examinees in the college.