Reza Mahmud :
Bilaichhari Upazila Awami League President Suresh Kanti Chakma was shot dead in Rangamati on Tuesday morning, just a day after the seven murder in Baghaichhari upazila of the district which created panic in the CHT.
According to the witnesses, fear and uneasy situation prevail in the whole Chattagram Hill Tracts (CHT) after Monday’s seven murder including election officials and Ansar members.
On Tuesday AL Bilaichhari Upazila President killing has aggravated the situation in the region.
Additional Superintendent of police Rangamati Md Yunus said that the killing took place at around 9:30am when the AL leader was coming to Bilaichhari by boat from the upazila headquarters along with his family members. A gang of miscreants obstructed his boat and opened fire at him, leaving him dead on the spot, he said.
Thus, all the eight persons were killed by unidentified armed gang.
When contacted Dipankar Talukder, AL MP from Rangamati told The New Nation, “Those who were spreading hates among the CHT people are behind these killings. The law enforcers need to recover all illegal weapons in the hilly region.”
Different organizations organised demonstrations in Rangamati and Khagrachhari to protest the incidents and demanded immediate arrest of the responsible.
Leaders from different political and non-political organizations blamed armed gangs fighting for supremacy. They are involved with different illegal activities like extortion, kidnapping and plundering in the remote hilly region.
They blamed Parbattay Jana Sanghoti Samity (JSS, Santu), JSS (reformists), United Peoples Democratic Front (UPDF) and UPDF (Democratic).
But none of the organization claimed responsibility of those incidents.
Rather, those organizations including JSS and the UPDF condemned the incidents through separate statements sending to media. Leaders and activists of Rangamati district unit Awami League organised a protest demonstration in fronts of its office in Rangamati town.
Rangamati district unit Awami League General Secretary Hazi Muhammad Musa said in the demonstration, “Both the JSS and UPDF are responsible for those killing incidents in the district. We want peace. So we signed peace accord in the CHT.””The armed groups are killing our unarmed and peaceful party leaders one after another, but the administration did nothing to ensure our security,” the AL leader said in the gathering. Different Bengali speaking organizations held demonstrations in Rangamati, Khagrachari, Matiranga and other towns in the CHT.
Parbattaya Bangalee Chhatra Parishad called strike on Wednesday in Khagrachhari on protest of those killings.
The leaders of the organization said some tribal leaders were influencing the tribal armed terrorists groups.
They categorically blamed CHT’s reserve constituency’s female MP Basanti Chakma for influencing the armed gangs.
They demanded Basanti Chakma’s immediate suspension from the Parliament.
Rabiul Hossain, Acting General Secretary of Parbattaya Bangalee Chhatra Parishad, Khagarachhari district unit, told The New Nation, “Basanti Chakma called the terrorist ‘Shanti Bahini’ as her brotherly and attributed their terror acts as like mukti juddho (freedom fighting) in her recent speech in the parliament. Such type of speech by an MP is influencing the armed groups.”
Besides, a seven member investigation committee has been constituted in Baghaichari killing incident.
Chittagong Divisional Commissioner Abdul Mannan formed this committee on Tuesday afternoon in his office.
Additional Secretary Deepak Chakrabarty has been made the head of the committee and Additional District Magistrate of Rangamati Mohammad Nazrul Islam has been made Member-Secretary. The committee has been asked to submit an investigation report within 10 days.
On the other hand security agencies start combing operation to arrest the suspects behind the killings.
