Quader says deaths in anti-drug drives are ‘encounters, not extrajudicial killings’

The ruling Awami League general secretary has defended the deaths in the ongoing anti-drug crackdown, saying these ‘encounters’ cannot be called ‘extrajudicial killings’.

Obaidul Quader says the law enforcers cannot ‘greet the armed drug dealers with songs of flowers’.

“The suspects are also carrying weapons. Then will the police greet them with songs of flowers? Won’t they retaliate?” he asked.  

He also said the law enforcers needed proof if they wanted to catch Abdur Rahman Badi MP, the Cox’s Bazar Awami League leader who allegedly controls the smuggling route of yaba pills from Myanmar.

Quader, who is also the road transport and bridges minister, was speaking to reporters while inspecting a Bangladesh Road Transport Authority drive on Manik Miah Avenue on Thursday.

At least 46 people have been killed in the anti-drug crackdown in a week after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina declared a war on drugs.

The law enforcers claim they only retaliated when the suspects fires their weapons, a standardised version doubted by human-rights groups calling the incidents ‘extrajudicial killings’.

The BNP fears the government will use the crackdown to suppress dissent.

Quader said, “Those who trade drugs have syndicates. They have armed criminals. They take on the police when the law enforcers go to catch them and that’s when the encounters occur. Encounters can’t be called extrajudicial killing.”

He said the law enforcers were conducting the drives in public interests and the people were happy with the crackdown.

“That’s why the BNP is unhappy. Why are they crying so much over this? They also have many of their people involved (in drugs). They won’t be spared,” he said.

Reporters asked him why the government was not taking any measure against Awami League MP Badi even after a government agency had alleged his involvement in drug trafficking.

“You must prove it. We can’t catch someone suddenly without proof, especially an MP,” he said.

About the BRTA drive, he said a mobile court had sentenced 27 transporters to different terms in jail, seized 52 vehicles and sent 23 for dumping.