Dhaka: Bangladesh’s Election Commission on Monday ordered an intensified nationwide security vigil ahead of scheduled polls in February as unrest gripped Bangladesh after a frontline leader of last year’s violent student-led protest was shot by gunmen.
“There is a possibility of covert attacks, and we are not ignoring this,” Election Commissioner retired brigadier general Abul Fazal Mohammad Sanaullah told reporters after an emergency meeting chaired by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin.
But he said the election would be held on time, and any attempt to create obstacles would be thwarted.
Masked gunmen shot Sharif Osman Hadi, who also leads the radical right-wing cultural group Inquilab Mancha, in the head on Friday as he initiated his poll campaign at a constituency in the capital.
The attack came a day after the EC announced the poll schedule, saying the voting will take place on February 12.
The interim government of Muhammad Yunus on Monday sent Hadi to Singapore in an air ambulance for advanced treatment as doctors in Dhaka described his condition “extremely critical”.
In a separate media appearance on Monday, the CEC, however, said he saw no deterioration of law and order, saying, “Where has law and order deteriorated? From time to time, one or two incidents of murder or violence occur.
“We think these are isolated incidents,” Uddin said, responding to a question on the law and order situation.
His comments came a day after he called the attack on Hadi “felt like a bolt from the blue to me” as he was speaking at a review meeting with law enforcement agencies.
“I announced the election schedule one day, and the very next day, such an incident occurred. It is extremely unfortunate,” media reports quoted him as saying.
The government has announced a Taka 50 lakh reward for clues leading to the arrest of the suspects, while the anti-crime Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) on Sunday said they arrested prime suspect Faisal Karim Masud’s wife, brother-in-law and a
female friend.