Seeking bank statements of 11 journos ‘unwanted’: Home Minister

Terming the issue of seeking bank statements of 11 leaders of five journalist organizations as 'unwanted,' Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal on Monday assured that such incident would not repeat in future.
"The incident of seeking bank statements of 11 journalist leaders by the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) was an unwanted incident. It damaged your fame. You felt pain for the incident. We assure that such incident will never repeat in future. We have talked with the relevant authorities including Bangladesh Bank, NSI, CID and SB in this regard," he said while exchanging views with senior journalist leaders who went to met him in his
office at the Secretariat.
Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ) former President Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, also former media adviser to the Prime Minister and The Daily Observer Editor, former BFUJ President Manjurul Ahmed Bulbul, former secretary generals Abul Kalam Azad, Abdul Jalil Bhuiyan, Omar Faruk and Dhaka Union of Journalists (DUJ) President Kuddus Afrad and General Secretary Sazzad Alam Khan Topu called on the Home Minister.
Protesting the incident, the journalist leaders said that the government has the authority to seek bank and wealth statements of anyone. But, the statements were sought introducing them as journalist leaders. It cannot happen. It defamed the leaders and the journalist community.Why the statements were sought without informing the government policy makers? It's not yet clear which organization sought the statement, they said, adding that it must be disclosed publicly what they got in their statements.
In response to the demand of journalist leaders, Asaduzzaman Kamal said, "It was unwanted. We have talked with the governor of Bangladesh Bank and inquired about the incident. He also mentioned about a letter. I have found the source of the letter. I think it was a misunderstanding."
"We have talked with the relevant authorities about the matter. I think they should not send letters in this way. We are working on the issue. We will take necessary steps after investigation. We will also look into the matter, so that such incidents do not happen any more in future," he added.