Police accuse Khaleda of encouraging militants by questioning killings of suspects

Police see a hidden reason in BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia questioning the killings of suspected militants in anti-terror operations.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 28 August 2016, 06:41 PM
Updated : 28 August 2016, 07:10 PM

Police Headquarters and Dhaka Metropolitan Police have reacted sharply to the former prime minister's comments on the Narayanganj raid in separate statements on Sunday.

The BNP leaders have alleged that the security forces are speaking like ruling party leaders.

After the alleged mastermind of Gulshan cafe attack Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury and two other suspected militants were killed in the raid on Saturday morning, Khaleda said the security forces would have got more information from the militants if they were caught alive.

"It's good that the militants are dying. But why are they not caught alive?" she asked.

Awami League leaders say Khaleda sympathised with the militants because she was 'backing' them.

The police statements also alleged Khaleda was inspiring the militants in a way.

The Police Headquarters said the BNP chief calling police raids 'staged drama' was 'intentional, unfortunate and unwanted'.

"Her comments can encourage the militants. Such comments from a responsible person are undesired," the statement said.

The DMP said Khaleda's comments frustrated 'the entire nation, not the police only'.

The statement said questioning the 'successful' raids with 'imaginary and false' information was 'similar to harbouring militancy'.

DMP also described the raids in Narayanganj and Kalyanpur to defend the killings of the suspected militants.

The law enforcers said their target was to catch miscreants alive in every case.

Police were forced to fire shots to 'save lives', killing nine 'terrorists' and apprehending one alive in the process, after the suspects hurled grenades at the law enforcers, the statement said about the Kalyanpur raid.

It would not have been possible to catch one alive if it was a 'staged drama'.

Police also said the raids in Gulshan, Kalyanpur and Narayanganj happened in 'broad daylight' and the people 'watched the drives'.

"The people have congratulated the police," it added.