Security measures have been beefed up across the country to handle any untoward situation ahead of the appeal verdict against the war crimes convict Delwar Hossain Sayedee due to be delivered on Wednesday.
Home ministry’s senior secretary Md Mozammel Haque Khan told the Dhaka Tribune, the ministry had issued an order to the law enforcing agencies to stay alert in any circumstances.
Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) members kept standby as a security measure for the capital, Major General Aziz Ahmed, the director general of BGB told the Dhaka Tribune.
If the civil administrations want, they would be deployed, he said while talking on BGB deployment in the capital.
BGB teams have been already sent to Pirozpur, Gaibandha and Bogra districts, he added.
The Supreme Court and its adjoining areas have already been put in a security blanket with the deployment of additional forces of police, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and other law enforcement agencies.
“All the departments concerned of police have been asked to remain prepared to avoid any sort of destructive activities,” Inspector General of Police (IGP) Hassan Mahmud Khandker told the state-run news agency BSS.
Deputy Commissioner of police of Ramna zone Atiqul Islam said: “Unprecedented security measures have been taken in and around of the Supreme Court to prevent any sort of subversive activism.”
Close circuit cameras on the SC premises have added extra dimension to the security, a High Court official said.
Then asked about preparation, Director General of RAB Mukhlesur Rahman said, “We have enough preparation to foil any sort of subversive activities. All the battalions and units of RAB across the country have been asked to remain alert against destructive acts.”
Referring to their preparations, the RAB chief hoped that there will be no recurrence of the destructive activities carried out by Jamaat-Shibir activists and others immediately after death penalty awarded to Jamaat leader Sayedee last year.
The security measures in Chittagong city and the district’s 14 upazilas have been tightened ahead of appeal verdict of Sayedee.
Mezbah Uddin, deputy commissioner (DC) of Chittagong district, told Dhaka Tribune that Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) personnel will be deployed in the district’s Sitakunda, Satkania, Lohagara, Banshkhali, Fatikchhari, Hathazari, Raozan and Rangunia upazilas and other upazilas as well as in the city from Wednesday morning.
Additional BGB men were kept prepared to be deployed in case of emergency, he said.
Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) Acting Commissioner Banaj Kumar Mazumder said additional 2,000 police men were deployed in 80 points of the port city to evade any kind of subversive activities.
Additional police forces were already been deployed in the district’s upazilas specially district’s northern upazilas, said Hafiz Akhter, superintendent of police in Chittagong district.
“Security measures were also taken on Dhaka-Chittagong, Chittagong-Rangamati and Chittagong Cox’s Bazar highways,” he added.
Also law enforcement agencies set up special security nets in Feni town from Tuesday evening to avoid any untoward incidents centering the appeal verdict against Jamaat leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee.
As part of the preparation in advance, two platoon BGB members have been brought in the district headquarters.
Additional Superintendent of Police of Feni Saiful Haque confirmed said, “As part of the preparation in advance extra police have been deployed in the streets of the town including Trunk Road, SSK Road, Pathanbari Road, and Comilla Busstand.
The patrolling of the RAB and police also increased in the upazila level, he said.
The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court is set to deliver its judgment on appeal against Jamaat leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee’s death sentence in war crimes case on Wednesday, according to the Supreme Court website.
The five-member bench led by Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain will give the order, says the cause list of court 3.
The rest four justices are Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, Justice Md Abdul Wahhab Miah, Justice Hasan Foez Siddique and Justice AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury.
The tribunal handed down the death penalty to Sayedee on February 28 last year.
Immediately after announcement of the verdict, Jamaat-Shibir activists and their clique carried out destructive activities across the country killings many innocent people, torching vehicles, damaging property and cutting down hundreds of trees demanding cancellation of the verdict.
Sayedee appealed against the sentence seeking acquittal on March 28.
The government also lodged an appeal to specify the sentence in all the six charges that were proved at the tribunal.
Source: Dhaka Tribune
