Nationwide Awami League Sabotage Looms Ahead of December: Is the Home Ministry Sleeping on the Job?
Miscreants of the banned Awami League and the banned Chhatra League are holding processions and protests in the open, one after another. They are doing this at sensitive installations and key places across the country, including the Dhaka University campus and the toll plaza at the Jajira end of the Padma Bridge. Advocate Ranjit Sarker, a fugitive former Awami League MP, crossed the Meghalaya border of India into Sunamganj, held a rally under a banner and went back again. Because the Home Ministry gives no monitoring or direction, law enforcement agencies have stayed silent spectators.
Fear is spreading everywhere over rallies, protest processions, bomb attacks and arson on police vehicles. These happen right under the nose of the police, the BGB, the SRB and the intelligence agencies. Videos of the protests and arson are all over social media, yet law enforcers have done little to arrest those involved or stop them. Every spot of the attacks, arson, crude bomb blasts and vandalism is covered by CCTV. Even so, police and officials of all agencies have failed to identify and arrest the culprits. Worried people are asking whether the ministry is sleeping while awake.
Several sources say the miscreants blast crude bombs on busy roads and set moving or parked buses on fire. Police stations, patrol vehicles, police lines and important government buildings are also targets. The attackers carry out these acts in Dhaka and other places one after another and escape easily. The incidents of the last few days have spread fear and a sense of insecurity among people. Clashes over murder, mugging, robbery, extortion, land grabbing and dominance also add to the worry. People ask why authorities cannot act on advance intelligence to stop the decline in law and order, and whether the Home Ministry and the intelligence agencies are inactive.
Crime analysts say the police, the BGB, the SRB and the intelligence agencies lack coordination because the Home Ministry gives no monitoring or direction. Without advance information from intelligence agencies, field level forces cannot prepare in time. Effective action is needed to prevent crime on the basis of advance intelligence and to bring back people’s sense of safety. The repeated blasts and arson raise questions about the safety of ordinary people and about the response of the law enforcement forces. Attacks in front of police stations and on police members show the reckless behaviour of the criminals. Earlier, police were attacked in different places while arresting suspects, suspects were snatched away, and government weapons were looted.
Mr. Ahsan Habib Palash, Additional IGP (Crime and Operations) of the police, was asked whether law and order has worsened because of the crude bomb blasts and vehicle arson in different places. He said no one can deny it. But he said he does not think these incidents have pushed the overall law and order situation into a big crisis. He said incidents are happening, and the people involved are also being caught. Still, some people are acting recklessly and causing these incidents on purpose. He said that so far these incidents do not look like a major danger sign for law and order.
He was asked why crude bombs are blasted at police stations and patrol vehicles and why police members are attacked. He said the attackers may think the police are weak. They may think such attacks can break the morale of the police. He said this could be one reason, and he knows of no other specific reason. Dr. Touhidul Haque, a Dhaka University teacher and crime analyst, said the recent crude bomb blasts and arson in Dhaka and other big cities have caused worry and fear among people. He said one group is trying to create fear among the public through these incidents. But an investigation must find out who is behind them, what their political identity is and what they want.
Dr. Touhidul Haque said the return or revival of the banned Awami League in politics in December is a topic of political discussion. For this reason, he said it is urgent to arrest the criminals and to increase the activity of law enforcement and intelligence watch. He said elected public representatives must also act on their own responsibility. If criminals commit violence again and again and stay out of the reach of the law, they will become even more reckless. So the government, law enforcement agencies, public representatives and everyone concerned must work together to face the situation. At the same time, he said, authorities must make sure no innocent person is harassed.
Police sources say crude bomb blasts and arson took place in at least 30 areas of Dhaka in the last two days. On 5 November, attackers threw crude bombs at police in front of the Golf Club in the Cantonment Police Station area. Police filed a case over this incident and have arrested 12 people. Yesterday, attackers threw a crude bomb at a parked car in front of the Faculty of Business Studies building of Dhaka University. The driver of the car was seriously injured. Police have not been able to detain anyone for this incident.
However, locals detained five people in total over crude bomb blasts at several places, including the TSC of Dhaka University, last Sunday and Monday. They handed the five over to Shahbagh Police Station. Last Monday, a crude bomb also blasted on the road in front of the CMM Court in Dhaka. Police arrested two people over this incident, Awami League activists Mr. Faisal and Mr. Sukumar Halder. On Sunday 8 November, crude bombs blasted at many places, including the Pallabi Police Station compound, in front of Sony Cinema Hall in Mirpur, and in front of the CID office in Malibagh. Blasts also happened at Cantonment Railway Station, Tejgaon, Vatara, Panthapath and Jatrabari.
On the same night, at least nine crude bombs blasted one after another within a few minutes at places on the Dhaka University campus. These places include Nilkhet intersection, the Dhaka University gate, the ULAB school, in front of the Senate Building, the Institute of Modern Languages, the road near the metro station next to the TSC, and in front of Sufia Kamal Hall. Police detained three people on suspicion of involvement that night. Earlier, on Saturday night, crude bomb attacks took place at several places in Uttara and Nilkhet, with attackers shouting the slogan “Joy Bangla”. The attackers threw crude bombs from the Malibagh flyover at the CID and SB offices. Police have arrested 15 people as suspects in these incidents.
Mr. Akhtar Hossain, DC (Media) of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said police have arrested 33 people in total from last Monday to Tuesday morning. They were held during crude bomb blasts and attempts of sabotage at different places. He said police file a General Diary or a case for every bomb blast incident. But he does not know the total number of cases and arrests in Dhaka over these incidents. He said police are regularly running drives to arrest the accused.
