Eleven more suspected drug peddlers have been killed as the spree of “gunfights” continues amid a countrywide crackdown on narcotics and its dealers. This takes the tally of drug peddlers dying in gunfights to 33 in the last eight days, drawing condemnation and concerns from human rights activists.
According to report fresh incidents of “gunfights” took place overnight through Dinajpur, Cumilla, Feni, Chuadanga, Narayanganj, Chattogram, Brahmanbaria and Netrokona. In Dinajpur, listed peddler Probal Hossain, 35, was killed in Birampur upazila, Abdus Sabur, officer-in-charge of Birampur Police Station said. One sub-inspector Khurshidul Alam was hurt.
In Feni, Monjur Alam, 45, was killed on Lemua bridge area on the Dhaka-Chattogram highway .According to RAB, deceased Monjur, a top listed peddler whose name was on the list prepared by the Home Ministry, was arrested previously in 2015 with over 5 lakh Yaba pills and stood accused in multiple cases including drug and robbery.
In Netrokona, an activist of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD), Amzad Hossain, 32, was killed in “gunfight” with police. Netrokona Model Police Station OC Borhan Uddin Khan said he was a listed drug peddler and accused in as many as 13 cases including murder, arms and explosives.
500gm heroin, 305 pieces of Yaba pills and a pipegun were recovered from him, the OC said. Four police men were injured during the gun-battle. They took treatment at Netrokona Sadar Hospital this morning.
These incidents of crossfires is nothing new but the frequency of such attacks begs for unanswered questions causing alarm about the competence of our law enforcers. Even against drug dealers our law enforcers are so helpless that they open fire to kill them. Our law enforcers seem to lack pride as public servants of a free country.
By feeling free to kill people without realising they are law enforcers not shooters to kill. They should not forget that our people enjoy protection of life by the supreme law, the Constitution of the country. By taking life without the trial in court each and every law enforcer can be tried as public servant accountable to law.
Everything will not end today and no excuse of higher authority will act as defence. Crime is a crime whether committed by police or anybody else and can be punished today or any time in the future.
Why were these peddlers killed specifically considering that crores of Yaba tablets find their way into Bangladesh every year? Where, then, are the rest of the peddlers? Why they were also not killed? Everybody knows including the police that the drug business is a big business and big people in police and government also enjoy protection. It has already come out in the press that some police officials have linked also.
The police are law enforcers and not judges to decide who is a drug peddler and who is innocent. Such killings deny the Constitution and the process of justice system. Thus such lawless killings are anarchy and cannot be seen right and proper.
We have highly educated and knowledgeable police officers who are fully aware that police are law enforcers and also linked to dangerous politics. We know our politics has become dangerous but we cannot cease to be civilised showing respect to life and liberty of our free people.
Corruption and absence of good governance are to be blamed for increasing all sorts of crimes. The police are aware that crime and corruption are on the rise because real cause is not addressed.
