Villages almost devoid of men for fear of attacks and lawsuits, cattle are being taken to relatives’ homes

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Panic has spread in Madhavpur village after two groups of villagers clashed in Jhenaidah’s Shailkupa upazila, killing one. The village is almost depopulated due to the fear of attacks. In fear of looting and vandalism, residents are moving their cattle to their relatives’ houses to protect them.

Mohan Sheikh (70) was killed in a clash between two sides in Madhavpur village of Manoharpur union of the upazila last Thursday morning. One party involved in the clash is said to be the supporter of Upazila BNP President Abul Hossain and the other party is the supporter of District Jubo Dal Joint General Secretary Abu Zahid Chowdhury. The deceased Mohan Sheikh was a supporter of Abu Zahid Chowdhury. In this incident, Mohan Sheikh’s son Abdur Rashid Sheikh filed a murder case with the police station naming 42 people and 25-26 others as unknown accused.

According to local people, there was a dispute between Abul Hossain and Abu Zahid Chowdhury over the Union Parishad (UP) elections for a long time. Because of this, a supporter of Zahid Chowdhury was beaten last Wednesday. In response, his supporters attacked the opposition on Thursday morning. Mohan Sheikh was killed in that clash.

Some of Abul Hossain’s followers complained that after the murder, supporters of Abu Zahid Chowdhury ransacked and vandalized their houses. About 40 houses and shops were vandalized and at least 65 cows and goats were looted in two days. Some of the cattle have been recovered by the police. The village has become almost manless as pro-Abul Hussain male members have left home for fear of litigation.

At least 15 families of the village sent their cows and goats to different villages of the neighboring union by car yesterday Sunday around 12 noon. About 25 cows and 11 goats were removed in the presence of the police. Talked with Sufia Khatun of Madhavpur village on Sunday afternoon. He came to a relative’s house in Rajdharpur village in the presence of the police to keep two cows. He said, they want justice for the killers. The people of the village who are supporters of Abuler Hossain, but good people, have also filed a case in the name of the opponents. Because of this, there are almost no men in the house. Monira Khatun of the same village said that there are no men in the house except the elderly and children. He was rearing a cow for Eid al-Adha. In the market, the price would have been more than two lakh rupees. He also sent it to a relative’s house for fear of robbery.

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Abul Hossain’s son and Upazila Juba Dal member secretary Abul Bashar Tariqul Sadat said that since the day of the murder, at least 40 houses of their side have been vandalized and around 70 cows have been looted. Police immediately rescued 15-20 cows and returned them to their owners. He alleged that their supporters were being harassed with ‘false cases’ due to contesting in the Union Parishad elections. Due to the case Madhavpur village has become manless. People’s homes are not safe.

Abu Zahid Chowdhury claimed that he was trying to maintain peace in the area after the murder. He denied the allegations of the opponent and said, “It is a planned murder.” At least 15 houses were vandalized by the opposition during the clash. Allegations of cow theft are also baseless. The police have been in the village since the day of the murder. Several leaders and workers including me are always keeping an eye, so that nothing new happens.

Sub-Inspector (SI) Abul Kashem of Shailkupa Police Station said that the main accused in the case of the death has already been arrested. He said that the police have been deployed in the area since the clash. Based on the complaint, some cows were rescued and handed over to the owners. As the accused in the case are absconding, the operation to arrest them is continuing.