Several journalists, DU students and one police personnel were injured during an "anti-drug" operation at Suhrawardy Udyan
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DHAKA — Several journalists, Dhaka University (DU) students and one police personnel were injured during an "anti-drug" operation at Suhrawardy Udyan, local media reported on Tuesday.
The operation on Monday evening was conducted by Ramna Zone of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), during which seven to eight people were detained, and around 60 to 70 police personnel were deployed, according to DMP Ramna Zone Deputy Commissioner (DC) Masud.
"We didn't arrest that many today -- the point was really just to shake them up," Bangladeshi leading daily Dhaka Tribune quoted the senior police official as saying on Monday.
Those injured were identified as Kawsar Ahmed Ripon, a local media reporter for Ajker Patrika; Tofayel Ahmed, a reporter for Banglanews24; Nayem Uddin, a DU student; and a police constable.
According to Ripon, police initially assaulted his colleague Tofayel, and he was also beaten when he intervened.
"I ran over asking why they were hitting him, and because I said something, they took away my phone and started hitting me too," said Ripon
Meanwhile, a video footage showed DU Anthropology student Nayem Uddin being beaten by officers following an argument.
Nayem said he and his friends were at the park discussing an event called "Bahu-Bhashar Sandhya" and encountered police while leaving.
"They found nothing on us -- nothing at all. Then they claimed we had argued with them. While that conversation was still going on, one of them suddenly grabbed me and dragged me inside and beat me, and they beat my friend who was with me too," he said.
Nayem further alleged that the police seized his phone and detained him at the police station for an extended period without permitting him to contact anyone.
Responding to queries about the operation, DC Masud called it a routine "anti-drug drive", Dhaka Tribune reported.
"It's against drugs. By 8 or 9 at night, nobody else is around -- these people are sitting in the pitch-dark jungle. This kind of operation runs regularly; today's was just a bit larger in scale," he said.
Masud said that 8-10 police personnel were separated from the main team during the drive and came across a group of DU students allegedly smoking marijuana. He said a confrontation followed after one of them identified himself as a DU student.
The senior police official further said that a sharp object was used to attack a constable above the eye during the drive, leaving a deep wound.
Addressing the allegations involving the journalists, Masud said that officers were unaware that one of the individuals was a journalist.
"We didn't realise he was a journalist because he had nothing around his neck," he said, citing the absence of a visible press ID.
The journalists refuted the claims, stating that the assault was deliberate.