Filling Station Owner Shah Alam Assaults Customer in Dimla, Nilphamari.

Mohinul Islam Sujan, Crime Reporter. Two individuals, including a pharmaceutical company representative, were injured after being struck by a metal angle bar wielded by a filling station owner in Dimla Upazila, Nilphamari. Among the injured, a young man named Mahbubur Rahman (28) has been admitted to the Dimla Upazila Health Complex in serious condition. A video of the incident circulated on social media and quickly went viral. The incident occurred around 2:00 AM on Sunday (September 20) at Alam Filling Station, located in the Joumotir Choupathi area of ​​the Upazila headquarters. The video shows Shah Alam, the owner of Alam Filling Station, keeping the station closed and refusing to dispense fuel to waiting customers, despite having fuel available. An altercation ensued when customers demanded fuel. At one point, Alam brandished a metal angle bar and gestured threateningly at the waiting customers. When the customers moved towards him, he struck them with the metal bar. Eyewitnesses reported that as tensions escalated, police arrived at the scene; observing the situation spiraling out of control, they temporarily suspended all operations and fuel sales at the filling station to restore order. Earlier that night, following the government's announcement of revised fuel prices, long lines of vehicles—including motorcycles and private cars—had formed at M/S Alam Filling Station. However, the pump had been kept closed since 10:30 PM. When owner Shah Alam arrived after midnight and began configuring the system for the new, higher prices, waiting customers protested and demanded fuel at the previous rates. The situation turned violent when Alam threatened the crowd with the metal angle bar and subsequently assaulted customers who approached him. Shah Alam, the owner of Alam Filling Station, stated, "Our employees were the ones who were attacked first." Currently, I have a stock of approximately 11,000 liters of diesel, 10,497 liters of petrol, and 10,380 liters of octane, all purchased at previous rates. Fuel sales at the filling station had been temporarily suspended due to a fault in the electricity connection. Dibakar Adhikari, Police Inspector (Investigation) of Dimla Police Station, stated that all operations at the filling station have been temporarily suspended until further notice to prevent untoward incidents and to ensure a proper investigation.