A power outage during a political event in Panchagarh triggered a furious reaction from Sarzis Alam, the chief organizer of the National Citizens Party (NCP) for the northern region.
The incident occurred on Saturday night while Sarzis Alam was delivering his concluding speech at the end of a long march organized by the NCP from Panchagarh town to Banglabandha, held to protest against extortion and corruption. The rally concluded around 9:30 PM near the July Memorial adjacent to Sher-e-Bangla Park, where the power suddenly went out.
Visibly angered, Sarzis Alam accused officials of the Northern Electricity Supply Company (NESCO) of intentionally cutting power during NCP programs. “This has happened repeatedly during our events in Panchagarh,” he said in his speech. “Whoever owns NESCO must answer for this. If this continues, we will see how big their hearts are—I will tear their hearts out and leave them on the street.”
Sarzis alleged that the outage was politically motivated, claiming, “If any institution in Panchagarh acts with political bias, it will no longer operate here. This is my personal commitment. This district is not a place for political bankruptcy.”
He went on to criticize corruption and abuse of power, saying, “Whenever you raise your voice against extortion, land-grabbing, syndicates, drug traders, or corrupt officials, they try to silence you through obstruction. But as long as we live, those who exploit power and harm the public in Panchagarh will not sleep in peace. It’s only a matter of time before they are held accountable.”
Earlier in the day, the NCP’s Panchagarh district unit organized the long march, which began around 12:15 PM from the historic Panchagarh Sugar Mill field. The procession, led by Sarzis Alam, included several pickup trucks and over 500 motorcycles. Senior coordinators from all five upazilas of the district, along with leaders and activists from the NCP and Jatiya Juboshokti (National Youth Force), participated in the event.
