A number of government officials have been financing anarchists to carry out subversive activities in Chittagong during the ongoing political turmoil.
“The 10 accused who were arrested in the cases filed for criminal activities with different police stations in Chittagong had confessed their crimes, and mentioned the name of the person who had financed the accused and how they provided the funds,” said Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) Commissioner Abdul Jalil Mandol, while briefing media at CMP Headquarters.
The police commissioner said 71 cases have been filed in connection with subversive activities from February 1 to February 22, accusing 1,878 people, where police held 473 of the accused in the cases.
“Shibir’s Executive Member Committee Member Enamul Kabir, who was arrested along with two others on a charge of plotting to carry out sabotage at the state-run oil depots in Chittagong, has been shown arrested in five to six cases where police have been interrogating the Shibir leader to find out the source of their funds, and the mastermind behind the plot,” said Abdul Jalil to the reporters.
Four persons were also awarded by CMP, as they had helped police to arrest the alleged saboteurs.
Of these, two introduced themselves as ruling party activists, while the other two denied any involvement with politics.
The awardees are Shahidul Islam Jewel, a local activist of the ruling party student wing Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), Md Mostafa Amir, a Jubo League man and also a former member of Chittagong city unit BCL, Abdul Mannan, and Md Nasim.
Both awardees had assisted Khulshi police to arrest the alleged saboteurs.
Jewel, who works at a Nokia showroom, is also a supporter of former local ward councilor Hiran, while Amir is the contractor of Bangladesh Railway (BR) at its civil section. Furthermore, Nasim is a stranded Pakistani working at a water purification factory while Mannan is a businessman.
The CMP commissioner handed Tk10,000 to each awardee at the media briefing.
Nasim informed the patrol police after he nabbed Shah Alam Monu, who was injured in a crude bomb blast while carrying the explosive on February 21, at Segun Bagan of Khulshi, while Mannan had helped police to nab Shohel Rana from Garibullah Shah Mazar, while Rana was carrying several crude bombs on January 18.
Jewel and his BCL followers caught Rubel with three petrol bombs at Diesel Colony of Jawtala on February 2, while Amir caught Ringku with two petrol bombs at Master Lane on February 10.
At the press conference the police commissioner urged the head of all educational institutions to resume their academic activities, while police were arranging security measures for them.