MP Liton Killing: PM asks lawmakers to stay alert

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said the killing of Awami League lawmaker Manzurul Islam Liton was a planned murder, and asked all the ministers and lawmakers to stay alert.

She feared that more such attacks on public representatives may be carried out ahead of the next parliamentary elections scheduled for 2019.

AL has always been the target of such attacks and conspiracies, but nobody could hold the party back, the PM said at the weekly cabinet meeting yesterday, according to two ministers who were present there.

The PM mentioned that seven AL lawmakers, including Ahsan Ullah Master and former finance minister Shah AMS Kibria, have been killed since 1972.

A condolence motion on Liton was also adopted at the meeting.

Four AL lawmakers were killed during the first tenure of the AL government between 1972 and 1975.

Ahsan Ullah Master was killed in 2004 and Kibria the following year when the AL was in opposition.

Only two days ago, AL lawmaker Liton from Gaibandha-1 constituency was shot dead by armed assailants at his house in Sundarganj. He was laid to rest at his village home in Gaibandha's Bamondanga union yesterday.

Taking the militants along, those who failed to wage anti-government movement might have carried out the killing to divert attention, the two ministers quoted the PM as telling the meeting.

The PM, however, didn't name anyone or any quarter in connection with the killing, the ministers said seeking anonymity.

Hasina, the president of the AL, advised her party lawmakers to arrange extra security at their places and remain alert to further attacks.

The PM said Liton was a good man but his image was tarnished through propaganda over an incident in his constituency.

Liton worked hard for the party in his constituency, which was dominated by anti-liberation Jamaat-e-Islami, she noted.

EIGHT MORE ARRESTED

Law enforcers are still unsure of the motive and the people behind the killing of Liton, also president of Sundarganj upazila AL.

Police yesterday detained eight more people, mostly Jamaat-Shibir men, for interrogation.

They couldn't glean any information from the 18 people held earlier over the murder.

Fifteen of the arrestees were shown arrested yesterday and produced before a Gaibandha court that sent them to jail. 

Atiar Rahman, officer-in-charge of Sundarganj Police Station, said they would pray to the court for placing them on remand for interrogation.

Meanwhile, Khandker Golam Faruq, deputy inspector general of police (Rangpur Range), said their different units and intelligence officials have been investigating the murder, keeping in mind all possible aspects -- involvement of Jamaat-Shibir, intra-party feud and militancy.

Apart from the district police, Rapid Action Battalion, Police Bureau of Investigation and several other intelligence agencies are working to find out the killers.

Rab Director (intelligence) Lt Col Abul Kalam Azad told The Daily Star that they were attaching maximum priority to militancy links as Gaibandha is a militancy-prone area.

“We are also checking some other possible links such as personal conflict or rivalry”, said Azad.

Anwar Latif Khan, additional director general (operations) of Rab, said they have found some clues and are looking into those.

He, however, declined to give details for the sake of probe.

Sources said the investigators are trying to get information by interrogating some detained militant leaders and their followers.

On July 18, Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia sent text messages to the cabinet members on their mobile phones, alerting them that militants may carry out attacks any time.

Getting the messages, many ministers had stepped up their security, sources said.

PROTESTS CONTINUE  

During a half-day hartal called in Sundarganj in protest at the murder, locals yesterday barred a Santahar-bound train from leaving Bamondanga Railway Station in the morning.

Around 11:00am, locals found a bomb-like object on the railway track under the train.

Police cordoned off the train and asked the passengers to get down.

Later, Sundarganj OC Atiar said the object was a toy.

In the afternoon, Gaibandha Bar Association formed a human chain in front of the court building, demanding arrest and exemplary punishment to the killers.

PRESIDENT, PM PAY TRIBUTE

President Abdul Hamid and PM Sheikh Hasina paid tribute to Liton. They placed wreaths on Liton's coffin after his namaz-e-janaza was held at South Plaza of Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban.

Placing a wreath on the coffin, the PM stood in silence for some time as a mark of respect.

Later, Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury also placed a wreath on the coffin.

On Sunday afternoon, Liton's body was flown to the capital by a helicopter after his first namaj-e-janaza was held at Rangpur Police Lines School and College ground.

After his second janaza at JS Bhaban premises, his body was flown back to his village in Bamondanga around 1:30pm.

The slain AL leader was buried at his family graveyard following his third janaza at his village home in Bamondanga after Asr prayers, reports our Gaibandha correspondent.

BNP SLAMS GOVT

Talking to reporters, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said Liton's killing proved that the government has failed to ensure people's security, as it is using law enforcement agencies for the ruling party's interests.

No one -- be it a lawmaker or an ordinary citizen -- can be sure of natural death, he said.