18 local govt representatives held in Cox’s Bazar

The Police detained 18 members of various Union Parishads after raiding a discussion meeting of the Bangladesh Union Member Organisation at Hotel Uni Resort in Cox’s Bazar’s Kalatali tourist zone. 

The raid began Friday evening (November 8) and continued late into the night.

The BIS Cox’s Bazar district branch had organised the meeting under the theme “State Reform, Democracy Establishment, and Local Development of Grassroots Representatives,” with approximately 70 representatives in attendance on the hotel’s fifth floor.

According to eyewitnesses, a large group identifying as anti-discrimination student coordinators surrounded the hall during the meeting, blocking participants. 

Police, accompanied by these coordinators, entered the hall, conducted searches, and detained 18 individuals while allowing the others to leave.

Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Cox’s Bazar Model Police Station, Faizul Azim Noman, stated that the operation was based on information regarding a "secret meeting" of Awami League leaders. 

The 18 detained UP members, he claimed, are Awami League committee leaders suspected in various cases. Members without pending cases were released.

The police presence and crowd outside the hotel caused concern, with some tourists choosing to leave. Questions were raised about the large number of “coordinators” involved in the raid and their alleged role in aiding some representatives to exit, to which OC Noman did not respond.

Zaheer Ahmed, a UP member from Teknaf Sadar Union Parishad, reported that the BIS meeting was pre-scheduled and focused on strategies for the country’s transitional period. “If this were a secret meeting, we wouldn’t hold it at a roadside hotel,” Ahmed said, calling the arrests harassment.

Salim, a UP member from Maheshkhali, expressed similar frustration, stating, “We had a bipartisan discussion with BIS members, yet our colleagues were detained without cause.”

Guests staying at the resort shared their concerns. A tourist couple recounted, “We felt unsafe after seeing a large number of young people and police enter the hotel, so we decided to leave.”

Channel 24 journalist Azim Nihad reported that while covering the raid, journalists were attacked by members of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement. The youths allegedly damaged cameras and verbally abused the reporters, with police standing by as “silent spectators.”