The police arrested an alleged activist of Juba League, the youth organisation of the Awami League, for firing 28 rounds at anti-discrimination student protesters and a聽 crowd in Chattogram on August 4, a day before the fall of the authoritarian regime of Sheikh Hasina.
Photographs of him brandishing a firearm and attacking protesters went viral on social media at the time of the incident.
According to police, the activist fired 28 rounds at the students and crowd during the protest.
The arrested is Towhidul Islam, 32, son of Md Sekandar from the Shamsherpara area of Chandgaon in the city.
Stating that they have yet to confirm whether Towhidul holds any position in the Awami League or its affiliated organisation Juba League, the police said that he was an associate of Esrarul Haq, a former councillor of the Chattogram City Corporation and a leader of Juba League. Following the fall of the government, Towhidul reportedly fled to bordering district Satkhira, where he went into hiding.
The Chandgaon police detained him on Friday night from the Kamalnagar area at Satkhira Sadar.
At a press conference held on Saturday afternoon at the CMP office at Dampara, CMP deputy commissioner for crime and operations Md Roish Uddin said, 鈥極n information, the police arrested Towhidul at his hideout in Satkhira. He confessed to firing at students and the crowd in the Chandgaon area on August 4, discharging 28 rounds that day. He is a professional miscreant with at least a dozen cases filed against him for various crimes.鈥�
Officer-in-charge of the Chandgaon police station, Aftab Uddin, said, 鈥楾he weapon used by Towhidul was a Pakistani-made single-shot gun. We have yet to recover the firearm.鈥�
聽Operations are on to recover it, the OC said.