A resident of Netrakona in Bangladesh who works at a marketing strategy consultancy firm said a number of shops that sold medicines, textiles, groceries, electronic goods and other items were ransacked and looted on Monday night.
Tonni Biswas, who recounted the horror to Metro over the phone on Tuesday, said her brother’s shop was among those looted. Excerpts from what she said:
On Monday, scores of people were out on the streets. There was a sense of belonging and ecstasy.
There were multiple rallies and people spontaneously drew graffiti on the wall
of a health centre near our house.
We were relieved thinking that there would no longer be clashes — between police and the protestors, or between supporters of the Awami League and those protesting the quota in government jobs.
However, as evening set in, large crowds started gathering in the area.
Around 7.35pm, the mob started to break open the shutters of shops that line the main road in front of our house. Many also hurled stones at our house.
We froze as windowpanes were smashed one after another. We locked the main gate. All of us took shelter on the second floor of our house.
The crowd on the street cheered loudly every time the locks on the shutter of a shop broke.
Later, I saw men stepping out with boxes filled with groceries and textiles.
Some walked away with television sets, while others held aloft boxes of cellphones as trophies. My brother’s medicine shop was not spared.
I had never thought that a movement against the quota system in government jobs would result in such rampant vandalism and looting. The mob was ransacking shops and businesses owned by ordinary citizens.
I fail to understand why people were doing and supporting this. Safety and peace are all that I pray for now.