AL MP protests at drug trading report

Former state minister Omar Faruk Chowdhury has protested against a Prothom Alo report, ‘AL MP patronising drug trade!’ published on Sunday.

In his rejoinder issued the same day, the Awami League member of parliament from Rajshahi-1 claimed that the report was entirely false, motivated and baseless.

He said he had fought against drugs all his life and was the convenor of the anti-drug sub-committee of the parliamentary standing committee on home ministry affairs.

The committee had drawn up a 28-page report with the views of all concerned persons and the home ministry was taking action based on this report, he said.

In the rejoinder, Omar Faruk Chowdhury stated that he had been made state minister for industries, after winning the election with a huge number in the ninth parliamentary elections. He later won again in the tenth parliamentary election.

The MP claims that he enjoys immense popularity in the Tanore-Godagari constituency. That is why, he argued, those vying for nomination in the coming election were conspiring against him.

Reply of Prothom Alo correspondent: Prothom Alo prepared the said report based on a letter of the home ministry concerning Rajshahi’s drug traders and their patrons. The report did not carry the correspondent’s own views or investigations.

The statement of the member of parliament in this connection had also been published. And most of the the contents of the rejoinder had already appeared in the published report.