Mob attacks Jibannagar UNO

A mob yesterday attacked SM Munim Lincoln, Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) of Jibannagar in Chuadanga, as he tried to free a tractor that was held by the locals for killing a man.

Police rescued the UNO almost an hour after he was attacked around 12:30pm.

According to locals, Ohidul Biswas, of Bathangachhi village in Maheshpur upazila of Jhenaidah, was riding a bicycle in Jibannagar's Katapole village with his son.

A locally made mud-laden tractor was going on the wrong side of the road and hit the bicycle, leaving Ohidul dead on the spot and his eight-year-old son critically injured.

On information, agitated locals confined the tractor and put a barricade on Jibannagar upazila road.

At one point, UNO Lincoln reached the spot with a police team and tried to calm the crowd. He also asked the locals to release the seized tractor.

As he asked the locals to release the tractor, they chased the UNO and police team and threw brick chunks at them. The UNO was also locked in a house in the area for about an hour.

Local people complained that the soil was being cut illegally from government land and then transported in unlicensed transports like tractors, Nasimon, Karimon etc.

A union parishad member in the area said a number of earth lifters are active in the area. They are continuously lifting soils from canal, river bed and selling to brick kilns.

"But the administration is not paying any heed," he said, seeking anonymity.

Saiful Islam, officer-in-charge of Jibannagar Police Station, said the UNO was taken to Jibannagar Upazila Health Complex. He received first aid there and then went to his residence.

The OC said additional police were deployed in the area.

The Upazila Nirbahi Officer has filed a case against unknown and unnumbered people in the area alleging obstruction of government work.

On the other hand, the family of the dead has filed another case against the tractor driver and helper.

The dead body was sent to Chuadanga Sadar Hospital.

The Daily Star, however, could not reach UNO Lincoln over the phone after repeated attempts.