Former Chhatra League leader Rony held at Dhaka airport

Nurul Azim Rony, a former leader of the Chattogram Metropolitan Chhatra League who reportedly carried out armed attacks on anti-quota protesters, was detained at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport while attempting to flee the country early Friday.

Rony, also a member of the Youth and Sports Sub Committee of the central Awami League and a close associate of former Education Minister Nowfel, was detained by the Immigration Police at Dhaka Airport around 1:30 am, said airport sources.

An official from Chattogram’s Shah Amanat International Airport, on condition of anonymity, told TBS that Rony had flown to Dhaka on a US-Bangla domestic flight that departed Chattogram’s Shah Amanat Airport at 9:10 pm on Thursday.

Dhaka Airport sources said Rony was scheduled to board a plane but his planned destination could not be known.

In a Facebook post around 11:30pm on Thursday, Mosaddek Ali Ibne Mohammad, a coordinator of the Chattogram city unit of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, urged people to detain Rony.

The post read, “Rony is the main culprit behind the barbaric attack on the students of Chattogram and the most shootings. Try to detain him as he is now at Chattogram airport.”

On 16 July, students organised a rally in the city’s Sholoshahar area. Rony also placed a counter-political programme on the same spot.

At one stage of the programmes, some miscreants allegedly led by Rony opened fire on the students, leaving several injured.

Rony is accused of a series of serious offences

Rony faces accusations of being involved in a gold smuggling racket in Chattogram and of torturing airport security personnel allegedly involved in the racket. He is also accused of land grabbing and extortion in the port city’s Muradpur area.

Previously, on 7 May 2016, during the Union Parishad (UP) elections, Rony was arrested by the BGB near a polling centre in Mirzapur Union, Hathazari, Chattogram. 

He was found in possession of weapons, ammunition, and ballot seals. A mobile court subsequently sentenced him to two years in prison for illegally entering polling booths and ballot rigging. However, he was later released on bail.

On 4 April 2018, Zahid Khan, the principal of a private science college in Chattogram, accused Roni of demanding a Tk20 lakh extortion money and assaulting him. 

After video footage of the incident surfaced, Rony resigned as the general secretary of the Chattogram City Chhatra League following a directive from the party leader. 

The college principal filed a case regarding this incident, but Roni was acquitted due to political influence.