Some mistakes are possible during anti-drug operations: Quader on Akram killing

Obaidul Quader thinks even if the killing of Akramul Haque in Teknaf during an ‘anti-drug operation’ was a ‘mistake’ of the law enforcers, it would not call the entire campaign into question.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 2 June 2018, 03:16 PM
Updated : 2 June 2018, 06:21 PM

“Of course not,” the ruling Awami League general secretary said when reporters asked him if the Teknaf incident marred the countrywide crackdown on drugs after a programme in Dhaka on Saturday.

“Some mistakes are possible during such an operation,” Quader, the road transport and bridges minister, said.

He claimed a ‘politically motivated group’ was out to make the government’s war on drugs controversial.

“A quarter with vested interest is doing this for nothing but political reasons while the crackdown has earned praises from across the country,” he said.

A gruesome
of phone conversations between Teknaf Municipality Councillor Akramul and his family members purportedly depicting the moments of his ‘execution-style killing’ during a Rapid Action Battalion drive has sparked fresh questions surrounding the anti-drug crackdown.

With the death toll in similar operations nearing 130 in around two weeks, human rights groups are demanding separate investigations into each of the incidents while the BNP fears the ruling party may use the crackdown to suppress dissent.

Quader said they were investigating the death of Akramul, a former leader of the ruling party’s youth front Juba League.

Asked whether internal conflicts between party members may have been the motive for Akramul’s death, the minister said there was no such evidence.