Tension erupted in Dinajpur’s Ghoraghat upazila on Friday evening after a police officer allegedly made obscene gestures and used offensive language towards locals while conducting an anti-drug operation.
The incident took place around 7:30pm in the Birahimpur cluster village of Singra Union. During the altercation, angry locals confined two police personnel inside a nearby market warehouse. They were later rescued with the intervention of army patrols, local Union Parishad officials, and senior police officers.
According to witnesses and Singra Union Parishad Chairman Sajjat Hossain, two officers — Sub-Inspector (SI) Nazrul Islam and Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Paritosh Kumar Roy of Ghioraghat Police Station — conducted the raid and detained a suspected drug dealer identified as Sadhan Chandra Mohonto, 40, of Boidar village. Police recovered seven yaba pills from his possession.
While the officers were counting the seized pills, curious locals gathered to observe the operation. Some people began filming the scene on their mobile phones. At this point, SI Nazrul Islam reportedly became agitated and started hurling obscene remarks at the onlookers. When a person tried to record his behaviour, Nazrul allegedly responded with vulgar gestures and foul language, which further infuriated the crowd.
The situation escalated as angry locals forcibly detained the two officers inside a warehouse in a nearby market.
Upon receiving the news, Ghioraghat Police Station’s Officer-in-Charge (Investigation) Shahidul Islam rushed to the scene along with the Union Parishad chairman and an army patrol team to bring the situation under control. Following an apology from the police side, the locals eventually calmed down and released the officers.
Speaking to reporters, OC (Investigation) Shahidul Islam said, “Some unruly locals engaged in an argument with the police during the anti-drug drive after a drug dealer was arrested. They claim police misbehaved with them. We will investigate the matter.”
Meanwhile, the arrested suspect has been charged under the Narcotics Control Act and will be produced before court on Saturday.