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Police have arrested Nur Alam, an expelled Jubo Dal leader, for his alleged involvement in the demolition and looting of the Radda MCH-FP Centre, a maternal and child healthcare facility in Mirpur.
Nur Alam, a former president of the Shah Ali thana unit of Jubo Dal, was arrested during a late-night operation in the Mirpur area on Thursday. With his arrest, the number of people detained in connection with the incident has risen to 16.
Hasan Mohammad Naser Rikabdar, deputy commissioner of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Mirpur Division, confirmed the arrest on Friday night. He said investigators had found specific evidence linking Nur Alam to the destruction of the health centre.
Sazzadul Miraj, joint general secretary of the central Jubo Dal committee, said Nur Alam had previously served as president of the Shah Ali thana unit but was expelled about four years ago over allegations of violating party discipline and extortion.
According to police sources, Nur Alam allegedly hired local “teen gang” leaders Ilias and Nada Awlad to carry out the attack on the health facility.
Police have also recovered 46 types of items allegedly looted from the centre, including furniture, vaccines, registers, refrigerators, official documents, printers and generators, from an area near the Beribandh in Darus Salam. Two covered vans allegedly used to transport the looted goods have also been seized.
Investigators said several of those arrested allegedly took part directly in the vandalism and looting. Police recovered some of the centre’s materials, including tin sheets, from a suspect identified as Mintu, while a steel door was recovered from another suspect, Milon.
The incident took place around midnight on September 24 at the Radda MCH-FP Centre in Mirpur-1. More than 200 masked men allegedly entered the facility carrying locally made weapons, held security guards hostage and tied their hands and feet.
They allegedly looted medical equipment, medicines, vaccines, cash and other valuables before using heavy machinery to demolish the entire facility, including one permanent and three semi-permanent buildings.
The attack was reportedly carried out under the banner of an organisation called the “Sammona Dokandar Samabaya Samity Limited.”
Nasrin Akhter, executive director of the Radda MCH-FP Centre, has claimed that the incident caused losses of more than Tk 1 crore. She filed a case with Shah Ali Police Station over the incident.