In July-August of this year, people have passed one of the turbulent times in the history of the country. The protest program of anti-discrimination student movement, which began with the demand for quota reform in government jobs, gradually took the form of a coup, through which the Awami League government fell. But before that, law and order forces tried their best to suppress the movement. Apart from this, the government party grassroots activists and mercenary terrorists are also seen using firearms at various stages of the movement.
At least 12 districts, including the capital Dhaka, have been targeted for firing at students protesting openly with firearms to quell the anti-discrimination student movement. Other districts are Chittagong, Feni, Narayanganj, Faridpur, Rangpur, Jamalpur, Habiganj, Rajshahi, Sirajganj, Sylhet and Laxmipur.
After the fall of the government, law enforcement forces have identified 126 armed people in these 12 districts by analyzing various video footages. However, a large part of them are still out of touch.
According to information available so far, out of 10 armed men identified in Chittagong, 3 have been arrested. 1 out of 33 gunmen identified in Feni, 1 out of 4 in Keraniganj and 1 out of 2 in Sirajganj were arrested. The police arrested 4 of the 6 people arrested. RAB arrested the remaining 2 people. However, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) arrested several people who participated in the attack along with the gunmen.
However, there is no shortage of efforts to catch the identified armed forces, the law enforcement agencies claim. Director of RAB's law and media wing, Lt. Col. Munim Ferdous said, the people involved in the attack on the students with firearms are being identified. Meanwhile, at least 15 people have been arrested from different parts of the country, who were directly involved in the attack with firearms. Many are under surveillance. Attempts are being made to arrest them.
In one of the videos discussed, a young man can be seen advancing towards the students with a gun. Later it was confirmed that the young man was Asif Ahmed, the then councilor of Ward No. 33 of Dhaka North City. He is the nephew of former army chief Aziz Ahmed. The video was recorded from Mohammadpur area of the capital on August 4. On that day, the leaders of the local Awami League, Jubo League and Chhatra League attacked the students under the leadership of Asif.
On the same day, video footage of another such incident was found, that of Mohammadpur. On that day, students were also fired on Bachila road in Mohammadpur. In the video footage, another former councilor of Ward No. 33 of Dhaka North Tarekuzzaman alias Rajeev and former member of parliament Jahangir Kabir Nanak's personal assistant Masudur Rahman alias Biplab are moving forward with firearms.
Mohammadpur was one of the areas of the capital which became turbulent during the anti-discrimination student movement from mid-July to early August. Between July 17-21 and August 4, students were attacked on the road from Mohammadpur bus stand to Bachila. Two former councilors Asif and Rajeev and Biplab were active in Mohammadpur area with firearms to suppress the movement. They went into hiding after noon on August 5. None of them have been arrested so far.
In Chittagong city centered on the anti-discrimination student movement, the members of law and order forces as well as some leaders and activists of Awami League were seen shooting at the protesters with firearms. The identity of 10 people, who are all Chittagong Metropolitan Jubo League and Volunteer League leaders, has been confirmed by analyzing the video footage recorded during the incident.
Helal Akbar Chowdhury alias Babar, the former Deputy Finance Secretary of the Jubo League Central Executive, was seen practicing with firearms to suppress the movement in Chittagong city. He is known as a follower of former Education Minister Mahibul Hasan Chowdhury. Apart from this, Jubo League workers. Touhid and Md. Feroze was seen practicing with a firearm. Volunteer League worker was identified in the video footage. Delwar too.
In the two months since the interim government took over, there have been hundreds of cases, reshuffles in all key areas of the police and administration; Additional Deputy Commissioner of Metropolitan Police (Media) Kazi Md asked why the armed men could not be arrested. Tarek Aziz said that the attack on the police station and the robbery of weapons could not be carried out in the middle. At this opportunity, most of the armed men took cover. Now an operation is underway to identify the armed men and arrest them.
Another video footage that has gone viral on social media shows the use of sophisticated firearms that look like AK-47 in the Mohipal area of Feni town. The video was recorded on August 4, the day before the fall of the government. Nine people including four students were killed in the firing that day.
The identity of two of those who were seen holding weapons in the video footage has been confirmed. They are former Vice President of Feni District Chhatra League Ziauddin Bablu and General Secretary of Kazirbagh Union Awami League of Feni Sadar Abdur Rauf.
After analyzing some videos captured from Mohipal area, law enforcement officials say that at least 33 people were carrying different types of firearms in Mohipal on August 4. All of them have been identified. All of them are followers of Feni District Awami League General Secretary Nizam Hazari.
However, 33 gunmen have been identified but only one has been arrested. He is Osman Gani aka Liton, General Secretary of Chhatra League, Ward No. 4 of Feni Municipality. He has already given a confessional statement under section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure in the court by admitting responsibility.
Meanwhile, Narayanganj district administration sources say that Shamim Osman, his son Ayan Osman, Shamim's brother-in-law Tanveer Ahmed and Shamim's close friend Shah Nizam are among the armed men who have been identified in Narayanganj during the student-public movement (July 17 to August 5). Though they have arms licences, none of them surrendered their weapons by September 4 as per instructions of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
At least 33 of those who displayed arms in Faridpur have been identified. Among them are three former councilors of Faridpur municipality. They are Mubarak Khalifa, Abdul Haque and Golam. Nasir. Apart from this, District Chhatra League President Tamidul Rashid Chowdhury and General Secretary Fahim Ahmed, District Jubo League Convener Ziaul Hasan and Joint Convener Shah Md. Sultan was also seen practicing with weapons. However, no one has been arrested in connection with the open display of weapons and firing.
When asked about this, OC Asaduzzaman of Faridpur Kotwali police station said that there was no case in the police station regarding the display of weapons.
The day before the fall of the government, two people lost their lives and several others were injured in front of Brindavan Government College in Habiganj. According to sources, at least 12 armed men took part in the attack that day, led by the then Member of Parliament, Abu Zahir.
Besides, 12 people in Sylhet, 3 people in Jamalpur, 2 people in Savar and 1 each in Rajshahi, Lakshmipur and Rangpur have been identified, but all of them are out of reach. In the same way, it was not possible to arrest the armed person identified in the incidents in the capital. For example, former Member of Parliament of Manikganj-1 Constituency SM Zahid took part in the attack on students with firearms in Dhaka's Mirpur on August 4. He is the former central leader of Jubo League. He has not been arrested so far.
Apart from this, Jahangir Hossain, the former councilor of Ward No. 54 of Dhaka North City, was seen practicing arms in the Zamzam Tower area of Uttara on August 2 during the anti-discrimination student movement. He was accompanied by three other armed men. Murtafa bin Omar, vice president of Turag Thana Chhatra League, was seen practicing with weapons in Azampur area of Uttara on August 4. Besides, on July 16, the former leader of the Chhatra League, Hasan Mollah, was seen practicing with weapons in the Dhaka University area. None of them were arrested.
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