The decoration of late president Ziaur Rahman's grave in the capital's Sher-e-Bangla Nagar was partially damaged by unidentified miscreants.
The damage was first noticed by Mizanur Rahman, a cleaner of the grave appointed by BNP, yesterday morning.
Visiting the place, it was seen that 11 out of the 118 pieces of marble slabs at the grave of the BNP founder were damaged – six were demolished completely and five were partially broken.
When contacted, Town Sub-Inspector Nuruzzaman said miscreants might have carried out the attack on Wednesday night. “The grave is under the judistriction of Public Works Department, so it is their responsibility to preserve and ensure it's security,” he said.
When asked, Mizanur Rahman said: “When I came to sweep the area, I found the marble slabs broken. I assume that the damage was inflicted by hitting with a hard object.”
DMP Tejgaon Division Deputy Commissioner Biplab Kumar Sarker said the miscreants were able to carry out the attack as some guards and workers appointed by the Public Work Department (PWD) were not present at the grave.
Police sources said six PWD staff, who worked in the area, were detained for quizzing and in primary interroggation they confessed that they were sleeping at night.
ADC Wahidul said they were trying to identify the culprits and security was beefed up around the grave.
Meanwhile, BNP leaders have visited the grave and condemned the incidents.
On the incident, BNP spokesperson Asaduzzaman Ripon said, “We came to know about the incident from media. It is the responsibility of the government to protect all the great leaders graves including Bangabandhu and four national leaders.”
“PWD is responsible to look after Zia Udyan and the incident took place due to their negligence,” he added.
He hoped that the government will extend its support to repair the damages. Visiting the grave, BNP standing committee member Mahbubur Rahman suspected that it might be part of the conspiracy to move the grave from National Parliament area which a certain group was trying for many days.
Police cannot deny their responsibility in this regards, he added. On May 30, 1981, Ziaur Rahman, then president was assassinated by a group of army officers at Chittagong Circuit House.