Local admin, cops guilty of neglect

Two committees, formed by the police headquarters and the Brahmanbaria police to investigate the October 30 hate attack on Hindu homes and temples in Nasirnagar, found negligence of the local administration and police in dealing with the attackers.

Much of the mayhem that day could have been averted had the administration and police acted prudently and properly, heads of the committees told The Daily Star yesterday.

The committees were formed a day after religious zealots vandalised and looted over a hundred Hindu homes and at least 17 temples following a Facebook post allegedly by local youth Rasraj Das. He is in jail in a case filed over the post “hurting Muslims' religious sentiments”.

Shakhawat Hossain, additional deputy inspector general of police (Chittagong Range), is leading the four-member team formed by the police headquarters. Iqbal Hossain, additional superintendent of police in Brahmanbaria, is heading the other four-member body formed by the office of superintendent of police (SP) in the district.

The deputy commissioner's office in Brahmanbaria had also formed a three-member investigation committee led by Shamsul Haque, an additional district magistrate, after the attack.

The first two investigation bodies were asked to submit their reports within seven working days while the other to submit its report within 10 working days.

All the committees were asked to find whether the local police and the local administration had any negligence, or failure to carry out their duties while dealing with the incident, sources said.

The bodies were also tasked with identifying the causes and the mastermind(s) behind the attack.

“We have found evidence that the local administration and the police didn't act prudently and properly while dealing with the incident,” Shakhawat said.

“The local administration should have acted properly to avert the incident but it did not,” he said, adding that he would submit the report within a day or two.

On the role of Abdul Kadir, who was the officer-in-charge of Nasirnagar Police Station during the incident, in tackling the situation, Shakhawat said he should have been more “active” that day.

About the then Upazila Nirbahi Officer Choudhury Muazzem Hossain's giving permission to hold two rallies by two Islamist groups at Nasirnagar, he said the UNO should have referred the matter to the local police official (Kadir) for opinions.

Tensions had been brewing in the area since October 29, as the two Islamist groups -- Touhidi Janata and Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat -- called the protest rallies for the next day over the Facebook post.

But neither the law enforcement agencies nor the administration took the matter seriously. So, they didn't take steps to ward off any untoward incident, many locals told this paper.

In the name of protesting the Facebook post, the two Islamist groups tried to instigate locals by giving speeches over loudspeakers from different mosques for hours since the morning of October 29, they said.

But the upazila administration or the Nasirnagar Police Station didn't do anything to keep the zealots in check, they alleged.

Iqbal Hossain, chief of the committee formed by the Brahmanbaria SP office, said his committee also found negligence by the local administration and the police over dealing with the incident. The committee was supposed to submit its report yesterday.

He said the UNO failed to discharge his duty as he gave oral permission for the rallies without talking to the local OC, the SP and the DC.

Had the UNO, who was later transferred to the public administration ministry, discussed the matter before giving the permission, the damage could have been minimised, he added.

Iqbal also claimed to have identified the instigators of the attack and its motive but did not disclose the information for “the sake of the investigation in the case filed over the attack”.

On Kadir's failure to tackle the incident, he said the OC should have informed the matter to his seniors immediately. He also said the OC, who was withdrawn later, failed to deploy additional law enforcers immediately.

“He had deployed only one platoon of police during the incident. Sixty more policemen were deployed later but it was not enough,” he added.

Contacted, Deputy Commissioner Rezwanur Rahman said the investigation committee formed by his office would submit its report soon.