Law enforcers failed to prevent Friday’s massive violence in the capital’s Motijheel and its surrounding areas, despite having prior intelligence reports, sources have said.
On condition of anonymity, officials from several state-run intelligence agencies said the law enforcers had been warned that Jamaat-Shibir activists might carry out attacks following the execution of their leader war criminal Quader Molla.
Intelligence reports had also suggested that violence might be carried out in areas near Paltan, Motijheel, and Baitul Mukarram Mosque.
Law enforcers were kept on high alert on the day after Molla’s execution, with a huge number of personnel deployed throughout the capital to ensure security.
However, despite all the beefed up security, violence broke out after Jumma prayers when hundreds of Jamaat-Shibir men torched vehicles and vandalised street shops by using petrol bombs and crude bombs near the Motijheel Ideal School and College.
The violence soon spread to other areas including Fakirapool, Kamalapur, Malibagh and Paltan.
Witnesses claimed that during the initial attack near the AGB colony, the police personnel had to retreat and wait for reinforcement, before being finally able to reach the scene when the Jamaat-Shibir men had fled.
After the incident, Ashrafuzzaman, deputy commissioner of police of Motijheel division, on Friday claimed that they had so far arrested five people regarding the violence. However, the number of pickets and activists on the street was over hundreds.
The Dhaka Tribune tried to contact over cell phone with Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Benazir Ahmed for comments, but he was unavailable.
However, home ministry’s Additional Secretary Mainuddin Khandaker said Jamaat-Shibir carried out the violence in a guerilla style which was difficult for law enforcers to understand. “They also came in a covered van,” he said.
A day after the attack, the home ministry held an emergency meeting presided over by state minister for home Shamsul Hoque Tuku. Others present at the meeting included home ministry Senior Secretary CQK Mustaq, Inspector General of Police Hassan Mahmud Khandaker, Border Guard Bangladesh Director General Major Gen Aziz Ahmed, RAB Director General Mokhlesur Rahman and other senior officials.
“None can foil the election – scheduled to be held on January 5 – by indulging in violence,” Tuku told the Dhaka Tribune at his office after holding a closed-door meeting for about three hours.
Law enforcement agencies have been given “highest directives” to keep the law and order situation under control, the state minister said.
