KOLKATA: Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) workers Nizamuddin Minto and Zakir Hossain in Dhaka were arrested on July 22. They walked out of Dhaka Central Jail on Wednesday after the Awami League government collapsed and all prisoners arrested during the month-long protests were released.
While Minto works in the automobile industry, Zakir is in the cable business.Both helped the protesting students during the movement in Dhaka, with Minto distributing drinking water among them and Zakir getting them biryani.
Recounting the days of horror, Minto told TOI from Dhaka: “At 12.30 am on July 22, a group of policemen in plainclothes barged into our room and pointed a pistol at me and my friend, Zakir. One of the officers told us we were under arrest and that they would kill us as we had apparently killed many policemen. The officers said they had already killed 25 youths, and that we would be number 26 and No. 27.”
“We were hauled out of the room and packed inside a 14-seater bus. There were 18-20 armed CID personnel around us. Once inside the bus, they handcuffed us and administered electric shock with some gadget, demanding to know the whereabouts of some of the protesters,” Minto said.
“We were then taken to the Postogola bridge over the Buriganga River and were asked to stand on the railing. We were given two choices —either help them arrest at least 10 protesters or be shot. We said we would cooperate. We were taken to the CID headquarters at Malibagh in Dhaka and were put inside a cell, where five others were there. We would be interrogated thrice a day, during which they would abuse us and assault us, trying to extract details of the agitation,” he said.
Minto said, “After four days of torture, we were taken to court and sent to Dhaka Central Jail. On Aug 5, we started getting information about the happenings outside. We heard Sheikh Hasina had fled the country. We were in a cell, called Padma. We could hear thunderous cheers from the adjacent cell, Meghna. The next morning, we were told we would be released. ”