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Fractions of the Bangladesh Economic Association (BEA) were locked into an altercation centring a press conference called by its ad-hoc committee on its Eskaton office premises on Monday.
The committee invited journalists to attend a briefing at 4:00 pm in a bid to reveal the disguise of the BEA-affiliated economists responsible for damaging the country's economy using the association.
When attempted to enter the BEA office, committee members were prevented by the accomplices of the previous committee.
A contingent of law-enforcers was present there to avoid any untoward incident.
Though the followers of the previous committee left the BEA premises, a fraction of them remained in the grip of the office.
Later, ad-hoc committee president Prof Dr Azizur Rahman and general secretary Mahbub-E-Jamil briefed the media at the building's garage.
During the fallen regime, according to Mr Aziz, the BEA office was made the party office of the Awami League.
He said the executive committee, comprising Abul Barkat, Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad, Hannana Begum and others, got hold of the platform through a farcical election.
"They destroyed the country's banking sector by approving bad loans, bankrupted Bangladesh economy by helping launder money abroad using the positions of chairman or directors," he said.
During the mass uprising on 03 August 2024, they met fallen premier Sheikh Hasina and expressed solidarity with the genocide and supported her, he said.
Mr Aziz said some 255 anti-discriminatory members of the BEA held a meeting last September to form an ad-hoc committee and declared the previous committee illegible, which was formed during the fascist regime.
However, the past members continued to disrupt their activities, including the process of holding a fair election, he said, adding that they also announced an interim committee in an illegal way.
Although the office was vacated on February 12, he said, some outsider miscreants entered the office on Monday morning and beat up their members and threw them out.
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