Staff Reporter :
The Cabinet Committee on law and order in its meeting on Tuesday expressed grave concern over two recent attacks on the Hindu and Santal minorities in Brahmanbaria and Gaibandha.
The meeting, presided over by Industries Minister Amir Hossain, Amu, asked the law enforcement agencies to remain alert to tackle such untoward incidents in the future.
“Government doubts about the possible involvement of a vested quarter behind the recent attack on minority members at Nasirnagar in Brahmanbaria district,” Amu said after the meeting held in the conference room of the Home Ministry.
He added: “At present, the media are running some isolated incidents [of attack on minorities]… But we want to say, all of us are the sons of this soil. We’ll see country’s interest first.”
When asked about the identity of the vested quarter, the Minister said: “We’ll expose their identities after a thorough investigation. About 84 persons have so far been arrested in connection with the Nasirnagar attack.”
Answering another query about the submission of probe report over Nasirnagar attack, Amu further said: “The probe report is yet to be submitted. What the media are running about submission of the report is not true.” The meeting was attended, among others, by Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed, LGRD Minister Khandakar Mosharraf Hossain, Home Minister Asaduzzamn Khan Kamal, State Minister for Labour and Employment Mujibul Haque Chunnu, Inspector General of Police AKM Shahidul Haque, Senior Secretary of Home Ministry Khandaker Mozammel Haque Khan and DG of RAB Benzir Ahmed.
About the probe report on Nasirnagar attack, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed also said: “So far as we know, the investigation report has not submitted yet. I have read in the newspaper that the report was submitted, but the IGP told us that it was not true.”
Taking a question from the reporters, Tofail Ahmed further said: “One Zahangir of Islami Chhatra Shibir had uploaded the distorted photograph in the name of Rasraj. The law enforcers are trying to nab Zahangir.”
It is to be noted that, the government had formed a four-member probe committee headed by Additional DIG Md Sakhawat Hossain to conduct investigation into the attack on Hindu people at Nasirnagar.
A section of media ran reports that the probe report was submitted to the police headquarters on Monday. The media also said that the incident was instigated due to internal conflict of local political leaders, including BNP. Rejecting the probe report, the BNP in its instant reaction said that the report was prepared with an intention to save ruling party leaders, who were behind the attack.
Meanwhile, the Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu echoed the same what Industries Secretary Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan had said two days ago about the Santal minority community in Gaibandha.
“The land grabbers had tried to grab the land in Gobindaganj by exploiting the Santals, though the Santal community actually is not owner of the land that claimed by the sugar mill authorities,” Amu said.
Earlier on Monday, Industries Secretary Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said: “The government agencies are trying to find out the vested quarter that instigated violent clashes with a view to illegally occupying lands belong to two sugarcane farms of Rangpur Sugar Mills Limited in Gaibandha.” The Industries Secretary also claimed that law-enforcing agencies were not responsible for the deaths of Santal community in clashes with workers of the sugar mill at Gobindaganj in Gaibandha.
