Jobo League (JL) leaders from four upazilas and one municipal unit in Magura at a press conference at Magura Press Club on Tuesday demanded scrapping of its newly formed six-member district convening committee, saying it includes 'criminals, drug addicts and muscleman'.

They sought intervention by central leaders and threatened of resignation for non-compliance.

They said central leaders in March last year dissolved the Magura district JL committee to form a new one to strengthen the organisation.

But the new convening committee formed with "unwanted persons", announced by the central leaders on February 26, has damaged the party's image.

They said the new convener of district JL, Enamul Huq Hirok, is a 'known criminal' and 'activist of outlawed Sarbahara Party'. He had abducted Sreepur upazila Awami

League general secretary Nurul Molla for a ransom of Tk 2 lakh in 1991 and Nurul was freed after payment of the ransom.

They further alleged that in the same year, Hirok got himself admitted to Degree first year in Magura Government College with a forged HSC certificate and faced a criminal case for forgery.

The new joint-secretary, Kamruzzaman Pintu, is a 'drug addict'. Police arrested him several times with phensidyle and heroin in last one year, they claimed.

They said college teacher Zibrul Islam, who has been made a member of the convening committee, was a 'cadre' of Islami Chattra Shibir (ICS) when he was a student at Kustia Islamic University. He is a spy planted by ICS, they claimed.

Another convening committee member, Zahangir Hossain, is a muscleman. Zahangir, a former union parishad chairman, worked for a BNP candidate in last parliament election for money. He had also assaulted Mahila Jubo League central president Nazma Rahman at a conference last year in Magura as she declined to make Zahangir's wife Bithi president of the district unit, the JL leaders alleged at the press conference.

Some vested quarters in the district AL is behind inclusion of such "unwanted persons" in JL, they claimed.

JL Magura municipal unit president Md. Atiar Rahman Nihar read out a written statement at the press conference.

It was also addressed by, among others, new joint-convener of district JL Awal Hossain, its former president Sohel Parvez Deep, Salim Khan and AminuddinAhmed.

Meanwhile, the new convener, Enamul Huq Hirok, in a statement protested the comments against him and the convening committee and said this is a "conspiracy" to tarnish his image.