BNP leader Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir’s wife and daughter were allegedly threatened and forced out of the campaign trail by machete-wielding activists of the ruling party in Thakuragaon.

Rahat Ara Begum, wife of BNP secretary general Alamgir made the allegation in a press briefing at her residence in Thakurgaon on Wednesday (Dec 26).

She alleged that a group of ruling Awami League’s youth wing activists, armed with machetes, forced them to leave their polls campaign at the city’s Fakir Para area. Her daughter Mirza Safaruh Sumi was present during the briefing.

“The armed Chhatra League (AL’s student front) activists started to intimidate and threaten us to leave the area. At first I requested them to refrain from violence but they chased the party activists who were with me. I had no choice but to leave the area under the circumstances“, she told the media.

Expressing anger at the incident, Rahat Ara asked, “Don’t we have the right to contest polls?”

“Thankfully we weren’t physically hurt in the incident, but it induced a mental trauma inside of us,” she added.

Local Awami League leaders, however, denied any involvement of their party activists in the incident.

Refuting the allegations Thakurgaon unit Awami League General Secretary Sadek Koraishi claimed it was a fabricated incident.

On the other hand, Alamgir’s opponent candidate Awami League Presidium member Ramesh Chandra Sen alleged that the BNP is setting fire to minorities’s houses.

Returning officer and Thakurgaon Deputy Commissioner Dr Kamruzzaman told Bangla Tribune that he got to know about the incident involving Mirza Fakhrul’s wife from media stories and facebook posts.

“No one came to me with any such allegations,” he said.