A suspected drug user has suffered a head injury after being beaten during an alleged anti-drug raid by a “citizens’ organisation” on a footpath beside Residential Model College near Geneva Camp in Dhaka’s Mohammadpur.
Police and locals said people associated with local MP and State Minister Bobby Hajjaj carried out the raid without police involvement.
However, the MP’s Executive Assistant Intishar Mashuk Pradhan denied that his office had conducted any such raid.
An internal police report said people from Bobby Hajjaj’s office conducted an “anti-drug raid” at Geneva Camp around 11pm on Sunday.
During the raid, Arif Hossain, 30, who was allegedly using drugs at the time, was struck on the head and left bleeding.
He was later handed over to police at College Gate and put into a police vehicle.
Police took him to the emergency department of Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital for treatment before taking him to the police station.
The police report said Arif received four stitches to his head and that legal proceedings against him were under way.
Asked about the incident, a senior officer at Mohammadpur Police Station told bdnews24.com: “The situation on the road beside Mohammadpur Residential College is very bad. A joint operation was carried out there involving members of the local civil society.
“At the time, the man [Arif] was smoking marijuana. Police were also there. He was injured during a scuffle.”
The officer later called back and requested not to be quoted, saying: “We didn’t detain him. Members of the public caught him and handed him over to police. We have sent him for a dope test to determine whether he is a drug user.”
Intishar was contacted for comment after police said a man had been injured during an anti-drug raid conducted by the MP’s office.
“There is a citizens’ organisation there that conducts such raids from time to time,” he said.
“It was not the MP’s. No such raid was conducted on behalf of the MP.”
On Saturday, former state minister for Liberation War Affairs Ishraque Hossain conducted an anti-drug raid in Gendaria while carrying a firearm.
The raid by the Dhaka-6 MP sparked widespread controversy, prompting him to announce his resignation on Monday.