Actions against Hifazat supporters

Government would take actions against the collaborators of the Hifazat-e Islam, who had caused mayhem on Sunday, State Minister for Home Shamsul Hoque Tuku said on Monday.

Hundreds of supporters of the radical organisations fought pitched battles with the law keepers across the capital on Sunday. At least four people died in the clashes.

“Those who had lent support to the Hifazat are responsible for the violence. Actions will be taken against them too,” Tuku said after visiting the affected areas in Dhaka’s Paltan and national mosque, Baitul Mukarram.

Opposition Leader Khaleda Zia had extended support to the Chittagong-based organisation, which is allegedly backed by the Jamaat-e-Islami.

Hifazat had been opposing the Ganajagaran Mancha which had been demanding maximum penalty for convicted war criminals. Khaleda had asked her supporters to stand by the Hifazat during its Sunday’s programme.

Several top leaders of the Jamaat are facing trials on war crimes charges perpetrated during the nation’s struggle for freedom in 1971.

On Sunday, activists of the radical organisation went berserk in the capital’s Paltan, Baitul Mukarram, Dainik Bangla, and Motijheel areas. They vandalised and torched at least 750 shops in these areas and even set ablaze the office of Bangladesher Communist Party.