Hundreds of villagers of Gandamara Union of Banshkhali in Chittagong took part in a protest rally at Gandamara Hadirpara and Rahamania Madrasha yesterday to oppose the proposed site of the power plant and Monday’s police firing that left four people dead.
Meanwhile, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has demanded judicial probe into the killing of four people in police firing in Banshkhali and said, now it has become too common in the country to open fire on demonstrators. The villagers announced a combined movement and said they will continue their protest until the government scraps the power plant. They also alleged that police fired on them without any provocation.
On Monday, two groups of villagers — one standing for the installation of the power plant and the other against it, had called a meeting at Hajipara Primary School field of Mujibkela village in Banskhali Upazila over acquisition of land for a coal-based power plant, being set up by S Alam Group. But police imposed Section 144 of the CrPC to prevent the gathering.
However, defying the ban, the two rival groups gathered in the school field and indulged in clashes with rival groups and cops. As police opened fire to control the situation, the four villagers were allegedly killed in the firing, while over 50 received injuries, including 11 police men.
The dead were identified as Anwarul Islam, 44, and his elder brother Mortuza Ali, 50, Zager Ahmed, 50, and Zaker Ahmed, 35.
Demanding justice for the killing, Liakat Ali, former Union Parishad Chairman and Convener of the Committee to Protect Homes and Graveyards, said, “Our movement will continue till the government scraps the power plant.”
During yesterday’s rally, hundreds of villagers shouted slogans and carried banners of the Committee to Protect Homes and Graveyards. Rally speakers said that police killed four villagers and, if necessary, people will shed more blood. But they will never allow setting up of the power plant there. The death of the victims will not go in vain, said the speakers. The villagers blocked the entry points of Gandamara Union to prevent entry of the people associated with the proposed power plant work.
The S Alam Group, jointly with SEPCO3 Electric
Power Construction of China, is to set up a 1224MW power plant over a 600-acre area at Gandamar Union at an estimated cost of $2.4 billion. Currently, they are in the process of acquiring land for the project. The power plant is supposed to be completed by 2019.
A daylong hartal will be enforced in Banshkhali upazila of the district today protesting the killing of four people in police firing at Gandamara village during a demonstration against the construction of a coal-fired power plant there.
Chhatra Oiko Forum convener Shahnewaz Chowdhury announced the shutdown from a human chain programme held at the Chittagong Press Club on Tuesday.