BNP questions the need to have RAB

BNP acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has questioned the need to have the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) as it faces a pile of criminal charges.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 7 May 2014, 11:11 AM
Updated : 8 May 2014, 04:19 AM

“It is time for us to think if we need this outfit we call an elite force,” he said, adding that the RAB had been taking lives instead protecting them.

The BNP spokesperson was briefing the press at the party’s Naya Paltan headquarters in Dhaka on Wednesday after a meeting on BNP founder Ziaur Rahman’s 33rd death anniversary.

RAB was formed on Mar 26, 2004, when the BNP-Jamaat coalition was in power.

Their first deployment was on the Bangla New Year that year to maintain security.

File Photo

Fakhrul said the BNP and civil societies at home and abroad were protesting against frequent abductions and killings.
“Nothing has been done though,” he said.
“The BNP represents the people. It wants what people want. The forced retirement of three RAB officials proves that the law enforcers are involved in crime.”
The RAB-11 commander and two other officers were removed on Wednesday after they were accused of taking money to abduct and kill seven people, including Councillor Nazrul Islam at Narayanganj.
“Through this (step) the government has admitted its responsibility,” he said.
He demanded the government’s resignation over the law enforcers’ involvement in the high-profile killings.