Would have nabbed Quader had his whereabouts been known: Jahangir

The government had no information where former minister and Awami League general secretary Obaidul Quader had been hiding in the country for three months since the fall of the Sheikh Hasina regime.

“We would have nabbed Obaidul Quader had his location been known to us,” said home affairs adviser Lt Gen (retd) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury at a press briefing at the divisional commissioner office in Dhaka on Tuesday.

While placing a query, a journalist referred to an international crimes tribunal (ICT) rule that asked how the Awami League leader managed to remain in hiding for three months and flee the country despite an arrest warrant against him.

In response, the home affairs adviser said they have no idea how he spent three months in hiding. If his location was known, they would have detained him.

“If you had informed us about his hiding, we would have definitely detained him. Can you please provide an example where we did not arrest anyone despite having information about his hiding? We are sparing none,” he said.

Regarding updates in getting an Interpol red notice issued against Sheikh Hasina, the adviser said, “We have given the Interpol a reminder again. We are keeping them posted for quick issuance (of the notice).”

In response to a query over 'fictitious' cases across the country, he assured that the innocent will face no action.

“It has already been announced in the form of a notice. There were multiple phases of discussion in this regard. No one innocent was arrested, nor will be. It is, however, different if there are suspicions,” he added.