Rumours being circulated from home and abroad: IGP

Inspector General of Police Mohammad Javed Patwary addresses a media conference at Police Headquarters’ media centre, Dhaka on Wednesday. Photo: Prothom Alo
Inspector General of Police Mohammad Javed Patwary addresses a media conference at Police Headquarters’ media centre, Dhaka on Wednesday. Photo: Prothom Alo

Bangladesh’s Inspector General of Police Mohammad Javed Patwary on Wednesday said the rumours are being circulated in a planned way from both inside and outside of the country.

A vested quarter is spreading the rumours to halt the pace of progress in the country, he said while addressing a media conference at Police Headquarters’ media centre in the capital.

He also said they (the vested quarter) have resorted to this easy way of spreading rumours through Facebook and other media.

He added the police have identified one of the propagators who lives in Dubai.

Six people have already been killed and 15 others injured in lynching across the country following “child-lifting rumours”, home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal told media on Tuesday.

The IGP said, “Those who were killed in the lynching are innocent people.”

He also said so far 31 cases were filed in connection with the spreading of rumours and lynching. As many as 103 people, including those involved with the politics of opposition parties, have been arrested in those cases.

So far 60 Facebook accounts, 25 YouTube links and 10 online news portal have been shut down, he added.

Replying to a question from newspersons, Javed Patwary said the rumours are being propagated in two ways -- some are innocently spreading those while some doing it in a planned way.

He warned the people not to take the law into their own hands. “It is an offence like killing people.”

The police will observe an awareness-week to stop the rumours.

The imams have been requested to tell something about this during their Friday Khutba (sermons).

He also said police are now trying to arrest the culprits scrutinising the video footages.