The Gulistan building has turned risky as its ground floor was badly damaged after the blast, said Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan on Wednesday. “The five-storey building has turned risky and the whole building may collapse if pressure is created on it. So rescue operation in the basement should be started after creating a stable situation,” he said while talking to reporters after visiting the spot. Damages in the building after the blast would not have been so much if it had been constructed following the building code, said Asaduzzaman. When asked about the reason behind the explosion, the minister said the actual reason behind the incident will be known after investigation. He also urged people to refrain from constructing buildings without taking proper approval from different agencies concerned. Also read: Gulistan blast: Rescue operation begins for the second day Earlier, on Tuesday, at least 17 people were killed and over 100 others injured in a massive explosion in a 5-storey building near a BRTC bus counter in the capital’s Gulistan area. Among the injured, 11 people have been undergoing treatment at the Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery.  

Intelligence agencies of the country are working to prevent the rise of militants and their operations, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said today. “Police are making all-out efforts to arrest fugitive militants. We have managed to arrest many militants and we’ll definitely be able to arrest the fugitives soon,” he said. The home minister made the remarks while talking to reporters after attending a programme at Police Staff College on the occasion of Police Memorial Day-2023. “We have not been able to eradicate militancy yet, but we have it under control. Our intelligence teams are working well, and that’s why militancy is now under control,” the minister said. Replying to a question on bomb threat at the just-concluded Ekushey book fair, the home minister said, “We often receive such threats, and we take necessary action after thorough examination.” Responding to another question from a reporter about possible chaos over the next national election, he said, “Political parties become active ahead of election. They get engaged in campaigns and other activities. We have been seeing it for long. Different political parties are active. I think there is no reason to heat up the election-centric political situation.” Also said :'We are moving forward due to the positive role of police': Home Minister Police Memorial Day is observed on March 1 in all metropolitan, range and district units of Bangladesh Police to commemorate police personnel who died while performing duties. Replying to a query over the delay and harassment in providing compensation to families of deceased police personnel, Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, Inspector General of Police (IGP), said a proposal has been given to the Home Ministry and decision in this regard will come soon.  

Lauding the positive role of police in maintaining peace and order, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal has said the law enforcement agency is now a symbol of dependability and confidence to the public. Besides, the police force has now become a friend of the people, the minister said while speaking at the 48th founding anniversary of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) on Saturday as the chief guest. He said Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman dreamed of creating DMP, the journey of DMP started with his efforts. Today DMP has turned 48 years. DMP has 50 police stations and several units, which are always working to maintain law and order situations. "CTTC was established in DMP under the direction of the Prime Minister following the rise of militancy. Since then the CTTC unit was able to suppress the militancy with great success," added the minister. "Maintaining peace and order in Dhaka, home of 2 crore people, is not an easy task. But DMP has been able to provide security to the people very successfully." Khandker Golam Faruq, commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) presided over the programme. In his speech, he said that the capacity of DMP has increased a lot. "Strict legal action will be taken to protect the security of the people and the sovereignty of the state if any person or group commits acts of militancy, terrorism and sabotage in the future," he added. Read more: Take service to people’s doorsteps, earn their confidence: PM to police

The government has taken initiative to introduce an “Integrated Lawful Interception System (ILIS)” in a bid to monitor social media platforms and thwart various anti-state and anti-government activities, said Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan on Thursday. The Home Minister divulged the matter in Parliament while replying to a tabled question from ruling Awami League MP from Dhaka-10 Md Shafiul Islam. Read more: Will act against those trying to create anarchy: Home Minister Shafiul wanted to know whether the government will increase vigilance to thwart local and foreign conspiracy inside the country.  In reply, the Home Minister said that law enforcement and intelligence agencies are working relentlessly to thwart any kinds of conspiracy against the country.  “Besides, modern technology like Open Source Intelligence Technology (OSINT) has been included in the National Tele¬communication Monitoring Centre (NTMC) to prevent different anti-state and anti-government activities through monitoring social media platforms on the Internet,” he said. Asaduzzaman also said that efforts were also made to introduce ILIS in this regard. Explaining the logic behind placing the activities of National Identity Card (NID) under his ministry, Khan said that the Election Commission (EC) has no involvement with the usage of NID except for voting purposes. Read more: Security agencies will act, if vandalism is there in the name of protests, says Home Minister In reply to a query from Gonoforum MP Mokabbir Khan the minister said that the national identity registration process is done under the executive department in almost all the countries of the world.  “In view of the reality, it should be under the executive department in Bangladesh like other countries,” he said. For this reason, he said that the process of bringing it (issuance of NID cards) under the security service department of the Ministry of Home Affairs is ongoing.

Issuing a note of warning, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said public suffering and anarchy centering the BNP’s mass-sit-in programme in the city will not be tolerated. “BNP won’t face any obstruction if they hold their programme peacefully.  If their programme becomes reason of public suffering then it won’t be tolerated,” he said while talking to reporters after inaugurating a Mujib Corner at Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) headquarters. The government did not create any obstructions to BNP’s programmes  but the party resorted to violence in their previous programmes, he said adding “The law enforcers  will resist them if they block roads and carry out vandalism and destructive activities in the name of mass sit-in programme.” Also Read: Will act against those trying to create anarchy: Home Minister Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, Inspector General of Police (IGP) and commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan and high official concerned were present. Earlier, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) announced  mass sit-in programmes in all divisional cities of the country on January 11.  The party will organise the sit-in programme in Dhaka in front of its central office at Nayapaltan.    

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan today said that action will be taken if anyone tries to create anarchy in the country. Political parties have to do politics, abiding by rules, the home minister said at the inauguration ceremony of Upazila Ansar and VDP office in Bagha of Rajshahi. Read more: There was no lack of security during US ambassador’s Shaheenbagh visit: Home Minister He said that the law and order situation in the country is satisfactory and the police force is working with patriotism and bravery. “If political parties of the country do not follow rules, they will be held accountable.” “Every force is working efficiently. Ansar and VDP are among them,” said the minister, adding that when police cannot be deployed in elections, Ansar personnel are deployed. “Around 2,00,000 Ansar members performed their duties bravely when arson attacks were carried out in the country,” the minister said. Regarding killings at Bangladesh-India border, the home minister said, “Talks have been held with India to stop border killings. They (India) also do not support such killings.” Read more: Fardin Noor: Home Minister puts faith in RAB, DB investigation Besides, India has requested the Bangladesh government to take care of the issue of free movement in the border areas, he added. “The government is also keeping an eye on it.” If there is a problem at the border, an immediate flag meeting is being held. The home ministries of both countries are also working together to solve various problems and crises, the home minister said. In order to make the field level activities of Bangladesh Ansar and VDP more dynamic and up to date, construction of upazila Ansar and VDP model buildings is underway in 13 upazilas of Bangladesh. Construction of nine Upazila Ansar and VDP buildings has been completed.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan today said the government has been monitoring the use of Myanmar mobile network in Rohingya refugee camps and had formed a committee to discourage it. “The committee will soon find a solution and make arrangements so that Rohingyas can use Bangladeshi network,” he said to media after attending the sixth meeting of the national committee on coordination, management and law and order of forcefully displaced Myanmar citizens at the Secretariat on Sunday. Read: There was no lack of security during US ambassador’s Shaheenbagh visit: Home Minister “We have discussed in detail about the arrangement to let Rohingya refugees enter our network. The Bangladesh Army has almost completed building a security fence, patrol road, and watch tower around the refugee camp. Ninety-five to 99 percent of the work is already complete,” he said. He said according to the recent report, 65% of Rohingya population has been brought under birth control campaign. The government is giving its all-out effort for Rohingya repatriation and hopefully a solution will be reached soon, said Asaduzzaman. When asked how many Rohingyas the US wants to take from Bangladesh, the minister said they are taking the Rohingyas by providing visas themselves. Read: No rally to be allowed on streets: Home Minister “Three years ago the United Nations representative for the Netherlands had shown interest in taking Rohingyas to me but I got to know that the country only took seven of them and Australia took 24. The number is quite poor and I don’t want to bring people’s attention to that,” he said. However, the US informed Bangladesh in detail about how many Rohingyas they want to take and how.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan on Sunday said there had been no lack of security when US Ambassador Peter Haas visited Dhaka's Shaheenbagh area recently. While talking to reporters at the Secretariat, he said police personnel rushed to the spot immediately. Earlier, Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen said the situation that US Ambassador Peter Haas faced could not be seen as a "security threat". Read more: DUTA slams US Ambassador for ‘contradictory’ behaviour “There is no scope to see it as a security threat,” he told reporters at the Foreign Service Academy on Thursday evening, noting that the incident will have no impact on Dhaka-Washington relations. Ambassador Haas visited the residence of Sanjida Islam, coordinator of Mayer Dak, an organisation of the relatives of the victims of enforced disappearance, at Shaheenbagh in the city on Wednesday morning. Sanjida is the sister of BNP leader Sajedul Islam Sumon, who was reportedly disappeared in 2013. When Haas was there, he was approached by members of another organisation - Mayer Kanna - a platform of family members of victims of earlier regimes, specifically the administration of BNP founder Ziaur Rahman. The US ambassador met Foreign Minister Momen on an emergency basis at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs right after the incident. Read more: US Ambassador visits residence of the coordinator of ‘Mayer Dak’ in city The Foreign Secretary said Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen tried to explain the situation. The US side said they have raised their “concerns” about this matter at the “highest levels” of the Bangladesh government.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan on Friday said that the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) and Detective Branch (DB) of police must have revealed the reason behind the death of Buet student Fardin Noor Parash after proper analysis. He said this in a response to reporters after paying homage at the Martyrs' Memorial of Rajarbagh Police Line in the capital marking of the Victory Day. Regarding DB’s report revealing Fardin’s death by suicide, the minister said, “Rab and DB police are working on this case. They can say it well.” Read more: DB to apprise court that Bushra has no link to Fardin’s death, says its chief After a long 38-day investigation, on December 14, Additional Commissioner (Detective Branch) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Mohammad Harunur Rashid claimed that Fardin died by suicide after scrutinizing the footages regarding Fardin’s movement before his death. Then he went to Sultana Kamal Bridge around 2:34 am on November 4. He was alone on the bridge till 2:37am, he said. “He didn’t know swimming and we believe that Fardin committed suicide by jumping off Sultana Kamal Bridge,” he said. However, Fardin’s father Kazi Nuruddin said that his son did not kill himself, he was murdered. Meanwhile, DB police will give a report to the court that Amatullah Bushra, a 3rd year student of East West University who is now in jail, has no connection with Fardin’s death, said DB chief on Thursday. Read more: Fardin didn’t commit suicide, he was murdered, claims father Fardin was a 3rd year student of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology’s (Buet) civil engineering department and a resident of Qutubpur area in Narayanganj's Fatullah. Police recovered Fardin’s body from the Shitalakhkhya River, behind a cotton mill at Siddhirganj, on November 7, three days after he went missing. Sheikh Farhad, a physician at Narayanganj General Hospital where the autopsy was done, said there were several injury marks on Fardin’s head and body. Kazi Nuruddin Rana, Fardin’s father, filed a case in connection with his son’s killing with Rampura Police Station on the same day and the case was later transferred to Detective Branch (DB) Police.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan on Thursday said BNP will not be allowed to hold their rally at Nayapaltan on December 10 and the government is thinking about Kalshi field as an  alternative venue. “No anarchy will be allowed in the name of rally and no rally will be allowed on streets,” the minister told reporters after visiting the police members who sustained injuries during Wednesday’s clash at city’s Rajarbagh Central Police Hospital. Replying to a question he said Kalshi field is being considered as alternative venue and BNP will receive full assistance from police in this regard. Read more: BNP executed its plan at Nayapaltan yesterday: Quader “There is no objection if you (BNP) hold peaceful meetings, rallies but if you vandalise, harm life and assets the law enforcers will not sit idle. It is their job to give people protection,” he added. Regarding the police drive at Nayapaltan yesterday, the home minister said that the operation was conducted considering the situation. Read more: Man in Argentina jersey during BNP-police clash in Nayapaltan identified as Ansar member “Police recovered 15 unexploded hand grenades, rice, pulse and firewood from BNP office.  We don’t understand why should rice, pulse, firewood should be brought for a political rally,” he said. “I’ve heard BNP had prepared to take position for an indefinite period in Nayapaltan area. They have no more plan to hold a rally,” he added.