A madrasa in Ashulia was attacked and vandalised on Sunday amid a long-running dispute over control of the institution, its governing trust and adjoining commercial property, with officials alleging that cash, computers and other valuables were looted.
The attack took place at around 4pm at Tahfizul Quranil Karim Fazil (Degree) Madrasa in Sreepur, Ashulia.
Syed Sanjid, deputy director for administration at the madrasa and a member of Ashraf Charitable Trust, told Daily Waadaa that a group of 50 to 60 people armed with sticks and locally made weapons stormed the institution.
He accused Imam Hasan and Zakir Hossain, acting president of Dhams ona Union BNP, of leading the group.
“The attackers vandalised the office and took away computers, cash and other valuables,” Sanjid told Waadaa.
Other accounts suggest the scale of the attack may have been larger.
UNB reported that witnesses put the number of attackers at more than 100 and said some were wearing helmets and masks. The group allegedly entered the premises from the rear after Asr prayers.
The adjoining Ashia Ashraf Women’s Madrasa was also targeted, according to UNB and several local reports.
Liton Gazi, an assistant administrative officer of the institution, told UNB that cash was taken from the office along with a CCTV control unit, mobile phones and a laptop. Furniture, computers and glass fixtures in several rooms were also damaged, he alleged.
No arrests had been reported immediately after the incident. NTV reported that members of Ashulia police and Dhaka District North Detective Branch reached the scene and brought the situation under control.
The violence appears to have followed an escalating dispute over control of the madrasa, its trust and a market adjoining the institution.
Three days before Sunday's attack, Sanjid held a press conference at the madrasa alleging that Zakir, Imam Hasan and another man named Humayun were attempting to take control of the madrasa and the adjacent market.
Sanjid said at the September 24 press conference that the madrasa authorities had announced through loudspeakers that shopkeepers should pay their rents to the madrasa authorities. He also sought intervention from the administration, warning that the dispute could lead to an untoward incident.
Zakir rejected those allegations at the time, saying he was being targeted as part of a “planned conspiracy.” He said he had previously served as an asset manager of the madrasa board and denied trying to seize either the madrasa or the market.
Speaking to Waadaa after Sunday's attack, Sanjid said the dispute also involved land belonging to the trust.
“Hasan had forcibly occupied a market built on trust-owned land beside the highway in front of our madrasa. He was recently evicted from there,” Sanjid said.
He alleged that the madrasa had been attacked previously under Zakir’s leadership.
Waadaa could not reach Imam Hasan for comment.
Zakir rejected Sanjid’s account and told Waadaa that the allegations against him were baseless.
“Sanjid is a terrorist and a drug addict. He has no connection with the madrasa. He has forcibly occupied the madrasa,” Zakir said.
He said Sanjid had repeatedly made allegations against him and that he had previously filed a case against Sanjid.
“I will file another case,” he told Waadaa.
Zakir has separately claimed that he is a member of the madrasa’s governing body and Darul Ehsan Trust, and that his son studies at the institution. He said he went to the premises only after police arrived and asked officers to maintain law and order before leaving.
He also claimed that despite being a governing body member, he was prevented from entering the madrasa.
The competing claims point to a wider struggle over who legitimately controls the institution and associated property.
Liton Gazi, however, told UNB that there was no unresolved dispute over the composition of the Board of Trustees because a court injunction concerning the matter was currently in force.
Ashulia Model Police Station Officer-in-Charge Mohammad Tariqul Islam told Daily Waadaa that police were dispatched after receiving information about the attack.
“The situation there is now normal,” Tariqul told Waadaa, "Additional police were deployed at the premises following the violence."
Tariqul separately told local media that the confrontation could have stemmed from a dispute over management of the trustee board or possession of shops in front of the madrasa.
Police however have yet to publicly establish who organised the attack or determine whether the alleged looting occurred.
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