Ruling party leaders hand in glove with criminals: Zia

By Mizan Rahman

Dhaka

Bangladesh has now become a death valley and it cannot be saved without ousting the incumbent government, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson Khaleda Zia has said.

“Not only Narayanganj, today, the entire country has become a valley of the dead,” she said at a hunger strike programme in the capital Dhaka yesterday.

“Those involved with these abductions and killings have not been traced up till today. It is because the ruling Awami League is involved with it. This is clear.”

“Law enforcers say they would have disappeared had the raid been carried out earlier. Just imagine, how powerful these people are,” she added.

She was referring to the raid carried out at the residence of a Narayanganj ward councillor and Awami League leader Nur Hossain, the main accused in the recent abduction and killing of seven people.

The body of Narayanganj City Corporation panel mayor Nazrul Islam was among the six that surfaced in the Sitalakkhya river.

Nazrul, along with the six, was kidnapped in broad daylight on April 27.

Zia was speaking at a hunger strike programme in Dhaka organised by the BNP in protest against the recent abductions and killings.

“There is wailing across the country. Seven people were abducted, killed and dumped in a river in Narayanganj,” she said.

“Bricks had been tied to the bodies to ensure they weren’t found. But even then, the bodies rose to the surface,” Zia said.

The BNP chief threatened to call tougher programmes but remained mum over any specific deadline.

“Now we are observing the situation, hoping that wisdom will dawn upon them (Awami League). If needed, we will go for tougher agitation. Do not force us to do so.”

“The people need to unite. Otherwise, it will not be possible to save the country and its people from the killer blade of the Awami League,” she added.

Zia again termed the incumbent government an illegal one. “The people are seeing what this government has done to the country after coming to power through force.”

All its activities were illegal, she added.

She said all law enforcement agencies including the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) were being made to play a partisan role.

But these agencies would be held accountable for these abductions and murders after the Awami League government is ousted, Zia warned.

The programme was attended by several central leaders of the BNP, including its acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.

Meanwhile, State Minister for Home Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal has said the prime accused in the Narayanganj abduction, Nur Hossain and his family were under surveillance but, they managed to slip into hiding.

The minister made the remark when reporters asked him why law enforcers conducted raid in Nur Hossain’s house after seven days of abduction.

The minister said the law enforcers were trying their best to nab the criminals.

Replying to a query on panic gripping the common people following the abduction and killing in Narayanganj and elsewhere in the country, Kamal said: “It is not true that law and order has collapsed. The situation has not reached that low.”

Asked whether law enforcers are involved in the abduction, he said everything is being subjected to investigation and if their involvement is proved, they would be punished.

“None would be spared,” he said, adding: “We have got a clue and it will help to identify the criminals.”