Taposh assassination attempt – the new twist
Startling reporting on the Taposh attempted murder case on Prothom Alo today where the basic summary is that even though publicly through various arrests, the government officials has hinted that the families of Bangabandhu murder accused are involved, a parallel investigation is pointing to some army officers being involved. As of November 5th, officers have been fired over this incident. Tremendous speed on the investigation and alacrity on taking action — all within the span of two weeks. We have very little details on this beyond the Prothom Alo report and its hard to know the other side of story.
সংশ্লিষ্ট একাধিক সূত্র থেকে পাওয়া তথ্যে জানা যায়, হামলার পরিকল্পনা বাস্তবায়নে ওই দিন ঘটনাস্থল ও আশপাশে পাঁচ থেকে সাতজনের উপস্থিতির বিষয়ে একটি গোয়েন্দা সংস্থা অনেকটা নিশ্চিত হয়েছে। এর মধ্যে যাঁরা শনাক্ত হয়েছেন, তাঁরা সবাই সেনাবাহিনীর জুনিয়র কর্মকর্তা। এঁদের মধ্যে কমান্ডো প্রশিক্ষণপ্রাপ্তও রয়েছেন।
This now better explains our PM’s statement in Parliament on November 1st where she hinted on conspiracy to destabilize country.
This statement was followed by DMP commissioners statement on identification of six people involved with the conspiracy on November 2nd.
২ নভেম্বর ঢাকা মহানগর পুলিশ (ডিএমপি) কমিশনার এ কে এম শহীদুল হক তাঁর কার্যালয়ে গণমাধ্যমকে বলেছেন, শেখ ফজলে নূর তাপসের ওপর বোমা হামলার ঘটনায় সরাসরি জড়িত, এমন ছয়জনকে শনাক্ত করা হয়েছে। পুলিশ কমিশনার আরও বলেন, যারা সরাসরি জড়িত এবং একেবারে উপস্থিত থেকে ঘটনা ঘটিয়েছে, এমন কাউকে এখনো গ্রেপ্তার করা যায়নি। তবে কারা এ ঘটনার সঙ্গে জড়িত, তদন্তে তা মোটামুটি পাওয়া গেছে। তাদের সম্পর্কে তদন্ত দল অনেক অগ্রগতি অর্জন করেছে। ওই দিন একাধিক টেলিভিশন চ্যানেলে এ খবর প্রচারিত হয়েছে। পরদিন একাধিক দৈনিক পত্রিকায়ও পুলিশ কমিশনারের এ বক্তব্য প্রকাশিত হয়।
The was followed by the firings of the army officers on November 5th.
অবসর-চাকরিচ্যুত: গত বৃহস্পতিবার রাতে কয়েকজন সেনা কর্মকর্তাকে অকালীন অবসর ও চাকরিচ্যুত করা হয়েছে বলে সরকারের উচ্চপর্যায়ের সংশ্লিষ্ট সূত্র বলছে। তবে এখন সেনা কর্তৃপক্ষ বা সরকার আনুষ্ঠানিকভাবে কোনো কর্মকর্তার চাকরিচ্যুতির তথ্য প্রকাশ করেনি। যদিও সেনাসংশ্লিষ্ট অনানুষ্ঠানিক সূত্রের বরাত দিয়ে ইতিমধ্যে বিভিন্ন জাতীয় দৈনিকে এ খবর প্রকাশিত হয়েছে। প্রকাশিত খবর অনুযায়ী, গত বৃহস্পতিবার রাতে সেনা সদর থেকে চাকরিচ্যুতি ও অবসর-সংক্রান্ত পৃথক দুটি আদেশ জারি হয়। এর মধ্যে অকালীন অবসর পেয়েছেন বাংলাদেশ ইনস্টিটিউট অব পিস কিপিং অ্যান্ড ট্রেনিংয়ের (বিআইপিসিটি) কমান্ড্যান্ট ব্রিগেডিয়ার জেনারেল এইচ আর এম রোকনউদ্দিন এবং অন্য জায়গায় কর্মরত মেজর জাকির হোসেন।
চাকরিচ্যুত চার কর্মকর্তা হচ্ছেন—ঘাটাইল ১৯ পদাতিক ডিভিশনের এরিয়া কোয়ার্টার মাস্টার লে. কর্নেল আফজাল, যশোর ৫৫ ডিভিশনের দুই কর্মকর্তা লে. কর্নেল সাইফুল ইসলাম জোয়ার্দার ও লে. কর্নেল জাহিদ এবং লে. কর্নেল আবদুর রব।
Now just a few comment on this explosive report. Mind you that this reporting may be simply part of an organized leak to justify the firings of the officers last week. On the contrary, the news in this report may be true as well. However, since the reporter based his report entirely on leaks from government sources, it is hard to differentiate it from any other report that was distributed by DGFI during the caretaker administration to discredit the politicians. This again points to media’s weakness on investigative reporting. It lacks corroboration from authentic and independent sources. Sure that the investigators have said that they have established the ‘phone prints’ from the area.
ঘটনাস্থলে হামলাকারীদের উপস্থিতি: একাধিক সূত্র জানায়, গোয়েন্দারা ঘটনার সময় ঘটনাস্থল-সংলগ্ন এলাকায় ব্যবহূত মোবাইল ফোনের ব্যবহার তালিকা (কললিস্ট) ধরে প্রাথমিকভাবে হামলায় প্রত্যক্ষভাবে জড়িত ব্যক্তিদের বিষয়ে ধারণা লাভ করে। দেখা যায়, হামলার আগে ওই এলাকায় ব্যবহূত কয়েকটি ফোন হামলার পরপর বন্ধ করে দেওয়া হয়। গোয়েন্দারা খোঁজ নিয়ে দেখেন, চিহ্নিত ওই ফোনগুলোর মধ্যে প্রায় সব কটি মোবাইল ফোন ওই দিনই কেনা হয়েছে। ব্যবহারকারীরা ওই নম্বরগুলো থেকে পরস্পরের সঙ্গে কথা বলেছেন এবং হামলার পর থেকেই সবগুলো নম্বর বন্ধ রেখেছেন।
প্রাপ্ত তথ্যে দেখা যায়, হামলার দিন বিকেল চারটা থেকে হামলায় জড়িত ব্যক্তিরা ঘটনাস্থল বা আশপাশের এলাকায় উপস্থিত হতে শুরু করেন। রাত সাড়ে আটটার দিকে বোমা বিস্ফোরণ ঘটানো হয়। এরপর তাঁরা সবাই ঘটনাস্থল ত্যাগ করেন।
হামলার দিন ঘটনার সময় বা আগে-পরে ব্যবহূত মোবাইল ফোনে এসব সন্দেহভাজনের সঙ্গে যোগাযোগ রেখেছিলেন, এমন আরও পাঁচ-ছয়জনকে শনাক্ত করা গেছে।
But is it logistically possible to establish ‘phone prints’ like this? We would have known had the reporter talked to some mobile technology experts on this.
However, if all of this is true, then this is a very, very dangerous trend in our country. Particularly worrying is this apprehension on the report of the home ministry:
স্বরাষ্ট্র মন্ত্রণালয়-সংশ্লিষ্ট একটি সূত্র জানায়, গত সপ্তাহে দেওয়া তাপসের ওপর বোমা হামলা তদন্তের অগ্রগতি-সংক্রান্ত প্রতিবেদনের শেষে আশঙ্কা প্রকাশ করা হয়, ২৫ ফেব্রুয়ারি পিলখানায় ঘটা বিডিআর বিদ্রোহের জের ধরেও এ ঘটনা ঘটতে পারে। তাপস ঢাকা-১২ আসনের (ধানমন্ডি-হাজারীবাগ) সাংসদ এবং বিডিআর সদর দপ্তর পিলখানা তাঁর সংসদীয় এলাকায়। বিডিআর বিদ্রোহের মামলায় গ্রেপ্তার হওয়া একাধিক জওয়ান জিজ্ঞাসাবাদে বলেছেন, বিদ্রোহের আগে তাঁদের বিভিন্ন দাবি নিয়ে জওয়ানরা স্থানীয় সাংসদ তাপসের সঙ্গে কথা বলেছিলেন।
This, if true, would point to a serious mistrust among part of the armed forces about some of the governing politicians. It is perhaps, natural that there may be mistrust; partisanship in that institution is also very much possible. But that the government is worried that this is serious enough to lead to subversive activities is very disturbing.
Propaganda works. After the Pilkhana incident, when there was serious lack of authentic information and analysis, a lot of propaganda actually caused serious dissent among the mid-ranking officers in the army. It was evident from the recordings of the meeting that got leaked out. The much talked about ‘General’s letter’ got debunked with facts by various bloggers. But some of the points raised in the letter got quoted by some officers in the meeting. Two months ago, we received a copy of another such propaganda email which seemed to have been being circulated. We call it propaganda because it was devoid of any substance and was full of typical RAW-India-AL against army etc accusations and very little fact. The letter ended like this in an ominous tone:
Peelkhana massacre is not the end in itself. There are far-reaching plans and objectives, the beginning of which was on 25th February. However, that part has been kept out of the purview of this article.
No link with Nanak, Mirza Azam, Taposh, Sohel Taj, Haji Selim, Mohiudding Khan Alamgir and Abdul Jalil has been found in the inquiries so far and CID inquiry would produce the same. They will remain out of justice despite being the masterminds and traitors to the nation. All evidences against them have been destroyed. That is one of the many reasons for delaying submission day of investigation reports. The aim was simple: destroy actual evidence and create new evidence; block evidences from military investigation. After all, creating new evidence would take more time than the time required to destroy actual evidence, isn’t it? Only AL activist linked to Peelkhana would be the ward commissioner Torab Ali, who will be jailed for a few years for being part of the conspiracy. He may also be eliminated to conceal all AL connection with Peelkhana for good. But truth can never be destroyed. Truth shall prevail.
There is no doubt that a lot of interest groups exist who are against this government. In the absence of a strong opposition, the Pilkhana tragedy will surely be used time to time against the government to stir up opposition which in this case is the armed forces. It will take a mix of diplomacy and active efforts to mend this relationship and fight such disinformation campaign. Diplomacy through a regular interaction with the ranking officers – the same way the PM did in the aftermath of the tragedy. Diplomacy through shutting up the loose cannon leaders who would mouth off any thing against the army and make the relationship more complicated. Active effort through follow up on the recommendation by the inquiry commission. Active effort through reducing the gap between the army investigation and the home ministry investigation.
A disloyal armed force, even if its a small segment, can be very dangerous and no one knows it more than the our current PM who lost her entire family in a coup by a few disgruntled majors and colonels. So the initiative has to come out from her side. Government should not hide behind press leaks but rather actively and publicly manage the news dissemination surrounding such investigations. One year anniversary of the tragedy is around the corner. It is never too late to build the bridges and to heal the wounds. Surely, the interest groups who want to destabilize will always be there. But they will then have less ammunition to stir up people who are misguided. The less that can be said about the political opposition is better. They tried to use the army during the Iajuddin caretaker administration and it backfired. But it doesn’t seem like they learnt any lesson against using the institute for political purposes. The post pilkhana statements of the former PM certainly seemed to point that way. I doubt they will be statesman like enough to help diffuse this tension. But I can certainly wish both the parties will look at the long term interest of democracy and the stability of the country. Tough talk is good but in the end what matters is your strategy. Strategy to not go to power and be in power by any means. But strategy to keep this country stable and in a path to progress and democracy.
Tags: BDR mutiny, Democracy
Samakal also had the same headline.
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Then what will happen to the allegations against Dalim’s Brother, Rashid’s daughter, Mohiuddin’s son, Huda’s bhatija, 29 year old purported freedom Party activist etc made in chorus by all starting from our PM to the minnow chunoputi in party heirarchy?
How about home ministers bold assertions and those bold banner headlines in newspapers?
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It is now crystal clear that a faction of the Bangladesh Army within its DFI wing are actively engaged in a 1975 like conspiracy to topple the Awami League government. These killer assassins have connections with the ISI of Pakistan, some foreign Arab countries and the absconding self-confessed assassins of Bangabandhuhiding in Pakistan.
All these plotters inside the Bangladesh Army should be court martialed and the fugitive offiers immediately nabbed. These killers were also behind the BDR massacre.
The Awami League should immediately seek international assistance to track down these killers having ties with the Taliban and the dreaded ISI of Pakistan.
The government should also move Khaleda Zia out of Cantonment as she is definitely behind this plot. She is desperate to hide her son and many former BNP minister`s involvement in the August 17 grenade attack against Hasina.
These same officers along with fugitive generals hiding in the US were directly involved in the assassination plot against Hasina.
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banglababa Reply:
November 10th, 2009 at 5:18 am
Absolutely correct!
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Well, about the ‘mobile print’: it is certainly possible. Having worked in the billing system of 2 mobile operators for three years, I can testify you that RAB has the complete database of all mobile calls (prepaid and postpaid) made from the network of any operator. From the news report, it seems that the RAB/ police analysts have used a very smart strategy, they looked for mobiles from which no calls/ very few calls were made after the Taposh bomb attack. Then they have traced the mobiles which were bought together in a bulk a few days before the incident. The mobiles for which these two criteria, bought in a bulk and disconnected after the incident, are fulfilled, will have stronger possibility to have been used for carrying out the bomb attack.
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Is Bangladesh heading towards civil war? YES
A thoughtful piece:
http://newsfrombangladesh.net/view.php?hidRecord=292852
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I think Bangladesh is inching towards another ‘1/11′. And if that happens eventually, it is most likely to be bloody this time around, as the existing legal and political systems have proved, beyond any doubt, to be incapable of wiping the regressive forces out. What do the fellow bloggers reckon???
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Unfortunately, the regional destablizer and state terrorist ISI has heavly inflatrated the bangladeshi society and its defence forces. It will be a very slow and painful process te get this zombie out of our back. The good news is the army is finally co-oparating with the hasina gov. you can really see that form the recent news trend.
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While we bicker about human rights and constitutional laws, as we should, and how a party like AL fares in delivering that or not, there are creatures out there, and they have been from day one (December 17, 1971 being that day one), who are not quite SOTA (sitting on their ass), and they don’t get to meet in the evening to discuss cricket, Ibsen or Michael Jackson, but to plot, scheme and conspire, and topple any means necessary a government that might have some national and social vision. And they don’t stop at committing any level of violence. Proof? Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Tajuddin, Nazrul Islam, Qamruzzaman, Mansur Ahmed, Kibria, Ahsanullah Master, Ivy Rahman… Is there a pattern here?
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Some newspapers today are reporting details of Babar’s account of events as they unfolded after the August 21st incident in 2004.
He points his finger directly at Tarique Rahman and Hawa Bhaban (HB) and claims he was made a puppet minister following the incident and HB was calling all the shots and hints at HB’s prior knowledge of the attack.
If proven to be true, it would be a watershed moment in Bangladesh politics where a democratically elected government is directly accused of being involved in a terrorist act, assisted by our law enforcement and intelligence agencies, who apparently reported directly to Tarique Rahman – the unelected son of the then prime minster.
I wonder how Tarique is allowed to remain in the UK with all the corruption and serious allegations of being involved in plotting and carrying out attacks against the leader of the opposition.
Bangladeshis in the UK must start a movement to get Tarique Rahman extradited to Bangladesh (and not some third country) to face countless allegations of corruption and his role in politically motivated violent acts.
I don’t understand how the UK government is allowing such an individual to carry on enjoying his corrupt millions in the UK. If Tarique is innocent he must not fear the democratic institutions he and his mother presided over during their tenure.
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There are two scenarios :
(1) It was a leak to
(a) justify the firing of recent army officers
(b) prove and justify the continuous drumbeat of “conspiracy/chokranto” chorus by the ministers including PM
(c) reignite the public emotions for Sk Mujib’s killers trial.
(e) Justify to complete/finish some loose ends like banning that pest HT, bring in accused family members ( and demonizing them by spilling out their personal lives) to pressure accused to testify and say certain things ( let me guess.. Zia was involved in the killing, etc..)
2. It is planned and done by , as the article suggests, some disgruntled Army officers.
In both cases, it is a sad state of the country. Government has to be blamed for leadership – the lack thereof, poor governance, and politicisation in every step. It has been only 10 months, whats next….
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Akash Reply:
November 11th, 2009 at 9:59 am
What are you talking about? Sad state of the country perpetrated by the government because of itself (because of lack of leadership)? You just don’t get it, do you, or you don’t want to get it? The country has a history of conspiracies and downright violence (read: killings), and they have been planned out by a dedicated group targeting one particular political position, unless you take the complacent line of argument that all those killings were carried out by the parties/victims themselves for their own political goal. Unless we can identify and ferret out these groups from our civic and political structure (which they have infiltrated cushily in the last thirty years), there is no end to the sad state.
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Timur Reply:
November 11th, 2009 at 10:31 pm
Bhai, in Bangladesh, whatever happens is AL’s fault. After 21st August, we heard Sheikh Hasina herself had done it. When Ramna Batamul bomb attack/ Udichi attack happened, we also found that people blaming Hasan Imam and indirectly AL for it. After BDR incident, we heard that AL did it. How many examples do u need ?
So, it is not surprising that dilbor is blaming govt (AL) for Taposh bomb attack, although indirectly. This trend will continue forever.
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dilbor Reply:
November 14th, 2009 at 10:09 pm
Timur,Akash :
I just put two different scenarios. It could be anyone of those. In either case, it is govt’s responsibility to sort it out because they are in power with overwhelming majority in parliament. If they are incapable of handling after such a huge mandate then what else do they need. Violence and bomb blasts are nothing new that’s happening only in this govt’s period. If you are in the management of a company or country, you take the blame if results are poor. With record number of bureaucrats in OSD, purge of Army officers – still the discipline is so haphazard that there are bureaucratic indecisiveness in every sphere of government so much that BDR chief goes out on his own in changing name of BDR and starts sending out Eid card and shows up in office with new uniform. Why are these sort of things happening? Now that crossfire is “halal” , why the crime/extortion aren’t going down? Who should take the blame for poor governance?
tacit Reply:
November 12th, 2009 at 2:03 am
Well, this is the big opportunity to tell all of us who the conspirators are. Let’s start with the latest attack on F.N. Taposh. There are, I believe, eight individuals in jail right now who were arrested over charges of being connected to the conspiracy. There are six or seven officers who were apparently involved with this attack and discharged from the military, but apparently without any knowledge of Army command, as evidenced by the recent ISPR release. And several statements have been made about BNP and Khaleda Zia being behind the whole attack. Is it one, some, or all of the above?
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Now here is direct quote from an army source:
“A vested quarter is trying to put army and the government in to a collision course . It is never the intention of the government to be in conflict with the army. One sidelined group inside the government party is collaborating with the anti government elements to destabilize the government. Police is now also being used to stir up troubles with the army as it was done involving BDR. This vested quarter wants the relationship between the army and the government to sour at any cost.
Now . DGFI has a very large anti government sympathizers who are also working with this vested quarter who wants the government to be overthrown. All these things have been taking place while Lutfazzaman Babar is being quizzed and the 21st August Grenade attack plus the 10 trucks case entering into new dimension.”
Looks like our country is in deep murky water once again
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