Fire and crude bomb attacks carried out by AL (activities banned), all those involved arrested

Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed has said the Awami League, whose activities have been banned in the country, blasted crude bombs (locally known as cocktails) at one or two locations at night.

He said everyone involved in the incidents of cocktail explosions and arson at various locations had been arrested. They were arrested along with their motorcycles and are being questioned, he added.

The home minister made the remarks at an emergency press conference held in the meeting room of the Ministry of Home Affairs at the Secretariat in Dhaka today, Sunday.

Speaking at the briefing, Salahuddin Ahmed said, “The ousted fascist, mafia forces and the banned political party Awami League have announced a so-called programme following a verdict by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in a case of crimes against humanity. Today, centring on the programme announced by the party, cocktails were detonated at one or two locations in the capital under the cover of darkness.”

Informing the media that those involved in the cocktail blast in front of the High Court gate had been arrested, Salahuddin Ahmed said that arrests had also been made in connection with the incident in Jatrabari.

Besides, he said, one or two abandoned buses parked at various locations without drivers or helpers were set on fire during the night. CCTV footage is being examined to identify those involved in the incidents. Action will be taken against them once they are identified.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman is travelling to the United States on Monday to attend the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

Asked whether the disorder that had occurred over the past week before his visit was an attempt to create an impression internationally that Bangladesh was experiencing instability, the home minister said the prime minister attends the UN General Assembly once a year. As prime minister, he will deliver an address on behalf of Bangladesh. There is no connection between his visit and the recent incidents.

In response to another question, the minister said the Opposition’s long march programme had been announced well before these incidents. It has two more long marches planned, he said. On the other hand, the Awami League had been carrying out cocktail attacks in response to the tribunal’s verdict.

In reality, he stated, there was no connection between the incidents and the Opposition’s programme.

Salahuddin Ahmed further said the fascist forces had been carrying out such activities for the past two years and that the current incidents were a continuation of those activities.

Asked about the latest situation regarding efforts to bring back Sheikh Hasina under the prisoner-exchange treaty, the home minister said the Foreign Ministry would speak on the matter.

He said the government had repeatedly sent requests to the Indian government under the treaty for the repatriation of convicted fugitives from the time of the interim government to the present. The government was following up on the matter, he said, expressing hope that the Indian government would take the requests into consideration.

Asked about the detention of 23 people on suspicion of links to an extremist organisation from the mosque at Tejgaon College last Friday, the home minister said some people were talking even after prayers had ended. They were detained because intelligence agencies had information about such activities. Their number was around 23, he said.

Salahuddin Ahmed further said the detainees’ telephones had been subjected to forensic examination and they had been questioned. They were taken to a nearby police station, he said. No significant evidence against around 11 of them, nor any suspicious information from their phone forensics, was found. The 11 were subsequently handed over to their guardians and community elders.

The forensic reports from the phones of the remaining detainees and information obtained during questioning indicated that they had sought to form an organisation called “Ittehadul Ummah”, he said. They wanted to organise themselves for extremist activities aimed at establishing a caliphate.

The home minister said the government maintained a zero-tolerance policy towards extremism. Cases had been filed against those individuals and they had been taken on remand, he said. Further information would emerge through questioning.

The home minister told the media that the government had held extensive discussions over the Opposition’s demand for a parliamentary discussion to resolve the crisis in oil, gas and electricity. The Opposition had wanted a committee to be formed, he said. A committee comprising representatives of the Government and the Opposition had made recommendations. The matter should have ended there, he said.

BNP Standing Committee member and Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed said the problems with oil, gas and electricity were not caused by anything specific to Bangladesh.

Compared with the rate at which energy, oil and gas prices had risen in various countries around the world, he said, the increase in Bangladesh had been very small. Prices had risen by almost twice as much in several neighbouring countries.

The home minister further claimed that the BNP government had taken charge when the country’s economy was in a fragile state.

Alongside the global problems caused by the war situation, he said, there were also problems in domestic electricity generation. Although gas-run power plants had been built, no arrangements had been made to supply them with gas. Nor had it been ensured where the gas would come from. As a result, there were also problems with these power plants.

The home minister blamed the previous government’s dependence on foreign sources for the inability to operate some power plants at full capacity because of gas shortages.

He said Bangladesh had relied on a single source for imported gas. Despite having gas reserves both onshore and offshore, he said, the previous government had not taken steps to explore them.

The BNP leader said the incumbent government had systematically taken initiatives over the past six months to explore domestic gas. As part of the effort, work was under way to drill around 150 wells.

According to him, the gas sector had been plunged into difficulties because of dependence on foreign sources instead of efforts to extract domestic resources. The government was now having to deal with these accumulated problems.

In response to a question, the home minister said whether the law-and-order situation had improved or deteriorated would depend on the steps taken by the government and the police after crimes were committed.

Claiming that the government did not interfere in the judicial process, he said the government provided assistance. Judicial proceedings were conducted by the judiciary, he said. The judiciary was independent.

The home minister expressed hope that trials of such offences would be completed quickly and that a culture of justice would return to the country. In his view, a culture of impunity encourages various forms of crime.