NN Online:
Top figures of the National Citizen Party (NCP), including convener Nahid Islam, member secretary Akhtar Hossain, northern coordinator Sarjis Alam, and southern coordinator Hasnat Abdullah, were evacuated from Gopalganj under military escort on Wednesday, July 16, following a violent assault on their convoy.
According to NCP Joint Member Secretary Mushfique Us Salehin, the evacuation took place shortly after 5:00 PM and was confirmed in a statement to BBC Bangla.
The convoy—consisting of around 15 to 16 vehicles—departed the city under tight military and police protection amid high tensions. Earlier in the day, an NCP rally at Municipal Park was disrupted by vandalism, and the leaders’ convoy was ambushed near the Launch Ghat area around 2:30 PM. The attack, allegedly carried out by activists of the banned Awami League, Chhatra League, and Juba League, involved brick-throwing and arson, plunging the area into chaos.
A video that has gone viral on social media shows NCP leaders boarding a military armoured personnel carrier (APC), highlighting the scale of the security operation. The leaders had reportedly been trapped for hours at the district Superintendent of Police’s office before the military intervened.
The dramatic evacuation brings an uneasy end to a day of political violence in Gopalganj, as law enforcement agencies continue their drive to stabilize the situation and identify those responsible for the attacks.
