At least two members of Phulbari unit of the national committee to protect oil, gas, mineral resources, power, and ports were injured on Wednesday in a clash with Barapukuria coal mine workers when the committee was holding a highway and railway blockade at Phulbari in Dinajpur district. The national committee also claimed the police picked up its leader and Phulbari Upazila Parishad chairman Aminul Islam Bablu and another activist, Nuruzzaman, although the police denied the allegation.
There had been no road or railway communication in Phulbari since 10:00am Wednesday till filing of this report at 9:00pm.
Dinajpur district unit of the national committee, which had been running a protest programme since Monday to realise its three-point charter of demands, issued an ultimatum to the coal mining company on Tuesday to fulfil the demands by 10:00am Wednesday, saying otherwise it would launch a highway and railway blockade programme.
The demands include paying compensations to the people affected by the mining activities for the damage to the last Aman crop, putting an end to filing cases against and harassing the people involved in the movement to protect their rights, and stopping for good all conspiracies to start open-pit coal mining in Barapukuria.
Locals and witnesses said the clash between the committee activists and coal mine workers erupted when the first side asked the second group as they were living the mine after work to abstain from working from today [Thursday].
National committee leaders alleged that plainclothesmen, posing as coal mine workers, swooped on the committee activists and it was when they took away Aminul Islam and Nuruzzaman.
The news of arrest of the two committee leaders prompted locals along with the committee activists to bring out protest processions, spreading a wave of panic in the area.
Later, the committee leaders said they would continue with the road and railway blockade until Aminul Islam and Nuruzzaman were released.
Phulbari police station officer-in-charge Shawkat Ali, however, denied the committee's claim that Aminul and Nuruzzaman had been picked up by police in civil dress.
Source: New Age
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