5 persons Malaysia police chief talked about haven’t returned home: Home adviser

Home affairs adviser Lt. Gen (retd.) Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury has said the three persons sent back from Malaysia are not terrorists.

The home adviser on Sunday said this while speaking regarding the issue of tagging Bangladeshis as ‘militant’ in Malaysia.

Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury stated, “None of the three individuals who were sent back to the country are militants. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also issued a press release on the matter. In fact, they were sent back due to the expiry of their visas.”

A press release issued by the home ministry on Sunday stated that the home and agriculture affairs adviser visited the export cargo village and the cold storage facility of the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka.

During a briefing to the newspersons there, the adviser made these remarks.

“The five individuals mentioned by the Malaysian police chief have not returned to the country. Efforts are being made to establish official contact with them. We will investigate the matter. However, they have no links to any activities in Bangladesh,” he said.

Emphasising that there is currently no militancy in Bangladesh, the home adviser added, “With everyone’s cooperation, militancy has been eradicated. The media, law enforcement agencies, and all relevant stakeholders have played a significant role in this.”

Asking questions to the media, the home adviser said, “Have you been able to provide any information on militancy in the last 10 months? When there were incidents, you reported them. Now there are none, so you can’t.”

Regarding his visit to the export cargo village, the home and agriculture affairs adviser further said that vegetables, fruits, and other produce are exported abroad from there under the initiative of the agriculture ministry. He visited the cargo village to observe the export process.

“As you know, there were some issues with exporting fruits and vegetables recently due to the protests by NBR (National Board of Revenue) officials and employees. Many of our traders incurred losses during that time,” he added.

The adviser also said , “Since our country’s export volume has increased, there is a plan to expand the existing cold storage facility at the cargo village.”