Brigadier General (retd) M Sakhawat Hossain, home affairs adviser to Bangladesh’s interim government, on Monday asked protesters to surrender all illegal and unauthorised weapons, including rifles looted from law enforcers, by August 19. During the recent violence, According to a media report.
Hussain said if those weapons were not returned to nearby police stations, officers would conduct searches and if anyone was found in possession of unauthorised weapons, a case would be registered against him, the Daily Star newspaper reported.
Hossain was speaking to reporters at the Combined Military Hospital here after visiting paramilitary Bangladesh Ansar members who were injured during the massive protests that led to the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Last week, Hasina resigned and fled to India, leaving the country in turmoil as deadly protests against her government over a controversial jobs quota system broke out.
Hussain said about 500 people, including students, were killed and several thousand others were injured during the protests.
He said, “In the video, a youth is seen snatching a 7.62 mm rifle. This means that the rifle has not been returned. If you have not handed over the weapon (out of fear) then hand it over through someone else.”
Hussain said they would investigate to identify the plainclothes youth who opened fire on the Ansar members.
He, however, softened his remarks yesterday that media houses would be shut down if they publish or broadcast false or misleading news.
“I said this in anger. This is not my business,” he said. “I would never support shutting down any media.”
last Thursday, Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus sworn in as head of interim government A 16-member advisory council was announced to assist Yunus in running the affairs of the state.
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