Senior BNP leader Moudud Ahmed has demanded the government put on trial the perpetrators of each extrajudicial killing carried in the name of the anti-narcotics drive by forming a judicial probe commission.
"The anti-narcotics drive is conspiratorial and an ill-conceived one. Stop immediately the drive being carried out to kill people, and form a judicial probe commission headed by a retired Chief Justice," he said while addressing a program on Wednesday.
He said: "The perpetrators of each of the extrajudicial killing must be tried and punished as per the report of the judicial probe commission."
The pro-BNP faction of Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ) and Dhaka Union of Journalists (DUJ) had organized the discussion at the National Press Club in Dhaka, protesting torture of journalists and demanding the withdrawal of “false” cases filed against senior journalists Shawkat Mahmud and Mahmdudur Rahman.
Moudud, a BNP Standing Committee member, came down hard on Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader for his remark that the government was going to track down the BNP leaders involved in drug trade.
"Doesn't it indicate that the drug dealers killed so far belonged to Awami League?” he asked.
He said Obaidul’s comment hinted that the government might try to suppress its political opponents further in the name of this drive.
The BNP leader alleged that the government had already made a list of BNP leaders and activists involved in drug business, while police were indulging in extortion in the name of the anti-narcotics drive.
He alleged some members of the law enforcement agencies were colluding with the drug peddlers. "The drive is being conducted to hide such crimes of police."
He also wondered how the government earned the right to give security forces the licence to kill people without any trial.
The former law minister claimed the government was unlawfully killing people as there was no rule of law and elected government in the country.
Observing that none of the drug kingpins or godfathers had been arrested or killed in the anti-narcotics drives, Moudud criticized the government for allowing Awami League’s Cox’s Bazar MP Adur Rahman Bodi to go aboard amid the crackdown.
"Bodi is known to people as a top drug peddler. So, the drive lost its acceptance when you (government) gave him a chance to go abroad," he added.