close the area. A local citizen's committee opposed the closure without rehabilitation of the sex workers. Clashes broke out between the two factions, during which 14 people were injured. A few days later the High Court prohibited eviction of the sex workers without proper rehabilitation. Further unsuccessful attempts were made by the committee to close the area in 2010 and 2013. 2014 closure Municipality Mayor Shahidur Rahman Khan Mukti was behind a plot to evict the sex workers in 2014. It was alleged that Mukti wanted to build a market on the land. He set up the Oshamajik Karjokolap Protirodh Committee (the unsocial activities prevention committee) with the intent of turning public opinion against the brothel. Local imam, Maulana Ashrafuzzaman Kashemi, was made vice-president to try and get the local Muslim community behind the campaign. Meeting were held at the mosque after the Jumma prayer, with Mukti telling of the ill-effects the brothel were having on the area. On 6 July, the committee submitted a memorandum to the mayor outlining the need to close the brothel and evict the workers. On the same day, Aklima Akter Akhi, leader of Nari Mukti Sangha (NMS) and representatives from the NGO Care Bangladesh met with the chairman of the National Human Rights Commission Mizanur Rahman Khan. Akhi was assured the sex workers would not be evicted. Three day later Akhi disappeared after a meeting with the brothel house owners, allegedly taking the funds of the NMS with her. In a meeting at the Kabarsthan mosque on 11 July, the mayor and local MP, Md Sanowar Hossain, made the final decision to evict the sex workers. Expecting an eviction attempt after Friday prayers, the local police chief stationed 3 platoons of police at the brothel to prevent the eviction but no attempt was made. The mayor had organised a grand iftar at the municipal offices on 12 July which it was reported 10,000 people attended. Some hours before the ifter was to due to start, a group of armed young men gathered outside the brothel. They were led by the mayor's brother Kakon, local Jubo League joint secretary Sanowar Hossain and Swechchhasebak League joint convener Nasiruddin Nuru, both associates of the mayor. Around 6 pm a van arrived giving two drums of petrol to the group. The group threatened to lock the gates of the brothel and burn it down if they didn't leave