Baghaichhari attack: CEC Huda rules out security lapse

Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda believes that the armed attack on election officials in Rangamati’s Baghaichhari on Monday cannot be attributed to any security lapse during the Upazila polls.

He made the remarks after visiting the injured officials at the Combined Military Hospital in Chattogram on Tuesday.

The Rapid Action Battalion, police and Border Guards Bangladesh were on election duty in the Chittagong Hill Tracts and there was no negligence by law enforcers, said Huda. The Election Commission was also on its highest alert.

“They (election officials) were being escorted by the BGB from the front. But they were attacked from behind. The roads along the Chittagong Hill Tracts are very narrow. Once a vehicle moves ahead, it can’t turn back and the protocol vehicle had moved ahead.”

Huda believes that the assailants planned the attack with the road’s layout in mind.

“They (attackers) must have known about the condition of the road when choosing to attack there. When the opportunity came, they attacked from behind. This was planned.” 

Asked if there was a security detail at the back of the convoy, the chief election commissioner said, “There wasn’t a lack of security. Armed policemen were at the back of the convoy. One of them was wounded by a gunshot.”

The police have been instructed to launch an investigation and take measures against the assailants, said Huda.