A Barishal court has ordered police to register a case against leaders and activists of Gono Odhikar Parishad over the vandalism of Jatiya Party’s (JaPa) office in the city.

Central President of Gono Odhikar Parishad Nurul Haque Nur and General Secretary Rashed Khan have been named as prime accused in the case filed under the Speedy Trial Act.

JaPa’s district General Secretary and lawyer for the case, MA Jalil, said the incident took place on the night of May 31, when Gono Odhikar Parishad activists attacked and vandalised JaPa’s office on Fakirbari Road in the city.

“After the incident, our party members went to the police station to file a case, but police refused to accept it. Later, we submitted a written complaint to the court. On Thursday, the court ordered the officer-in-charge (OC) of Kotwali Police Station to record the complaint as a case,” Jalil said.

He added that the complaint, along with the court order, was sent to the police station around 11 am. Duty Officer SI Dolly received the documents.

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Apart from Nur and Rashed, the case also accuses Gono Odhikar Parishad’s district President HM Shamim Reza, district General Secretary HM Hasan, city General Secretary Farhad Hossain, along with 25 named and 70 to 80 unidentified activists of the party.

Reacting to the development, Gono Odhikar Parishad’s Barishal city General Secretary Farhad Hossain said, “We are not aware of any case being filed in court over the vandalism of JaPa’s office. However, if there is such a case, we will face it legally.”

Kotwali Police Station’s Officer-in-Charge Mizanur Rahman said, “We have not yet received any documents from the court regarding the case. If the duty officer has received them, we will get those in due time.”