EC orders intensified security vigil fearing covert attacks over Bangladesh polls

Dhaka, Dec 15 (PTI) 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.

The government on Saturday ordered a nationwide security clampdown called Operation Devil Hunt 2 amid escalated fears over the law and order situation and promised to issue firearms licenses for election candidates for their own security and to provide security to frontline “July warriors”.

The Home Ministry on Monday unveiled a guideline for politically significant individuals and parliamentary candidates to obtain temporary firearms licences and employ armed retainers for personal security.

The US Embassy in Dhaka on Monday renewed an alert for its citizens in Bangladesh, asking them to “exercise caution” against violence.

Bangladesh is to see its first general election in February after the ouster of then prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government on August 5 as fallout of the uprising, while the interim government disbanded the party, disqualifying it for the fray.

Critically ill former prime minister Khaleda Zia’s BNP appeared as the forerunner in the changed political landscape, with its once ally, Jamaat-e-Islami, being its main rival. PTI AR AMS