Family: Police negligence led to firefighter Motin's death

Firefighter Abdul Motin's family has blamed police for his death during an anti-militant operation in Rajshahi's Godagari upazila on Thursday. They say the law enforcers conducted the operation without taking adequate preparations. “My brother died due to excessive bleeding,” Motin's brother Saddam Hossain said. “There was no doctor at the scene. He might have made it if he had been treated immediately.” “It was a dangerous raid and yet no safety precaution was taken. How can they not have a doctor or an ambulance nearby during such a risky operation?” Motin’s wife Tanjil Begum said she had seen the video recording of militants attacking her husband. “Police did not shoot the militants when they came out of their hideout with spears and sharp weapons,” she said. “Police did nothing when the militants hacked my husband to death. He could have been saved if police had opened fire.” Fire Service and Civil Defence chief Brig Gen Ali Ahammed Khan, too, blamed police. “This operation lacked planning and professionalism,” he said. Police's Rajshahi Range Additional Deputy Inspector General (crime and operations) Nisarul Arif disagreed. “It (Motin's death) was an operational accident,” he said, adding that he was somewhat convinced after watching the video of the incident that there was no negligence on their part. He said Motin had died of injuries he received when the militants blew themselves up. On Thursday, Godagari police OC Hibzur Alam Munshi said the militants had first hacked Motin and then blew themselves up. “Motin was critically injured in the blasts. He died of his injuries.” Later that night, police's Rajshahi Range DIG Masudur Rahman said: “The militants hacked a firefighter to death before detonating suicide vests and killing themselves.” The Fire Service is investigating Motin's death. Its Rajshahi Sadar Office Deputy Director Nurul Islam, leading the investigation, said they would submit a report within 15 days. On Thursday, police surrounded a militant hideout in Benipur village. The operation officially ended a day after five of a family blew themselves up after hacking a firefighter. The dead militants are Sajjad, his wife Beli, their sons Al-Amin, 30, and Soheb, 25, and daughter Karima, 18. Sajjad’s other daughter Sumaiya surrendered with her seven-year-old son and one-month-old daughter.