Banned AL’s subversive activities to be tackled: Salahuddin 

 
Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed has said the banned Awami League occasionally stages small-scale “hit-and-run” processions after Fajr prayers and records videos of them, while police could not anticipate the recent Gulshan gathering despite having intelligence information about it.

He also said intelligence agencies had information about the recent gathering in Gulshan, Dhaka, where a group of people reportedly gathered on the pretext of attending Friday prayers. 

However, police could not anticipate at the specific time that the group would engage in such activities.

The minister made the remarks on Tuesday afternoon while responding to journalists' questions at the Home Ministry's conference room in the Secretariat after a meeting on easing traffic congestion caused by mega-projects in Dhaka.

Salahuddin said the banned Awami League sometimes carries out various subversive activities. As part of these activities, small groups of people stage one or two processions after Fajr prayers and record videos. Some of these processions become visible, and the authorities have observed them, he said.

Asked about an Awami League procession in the constituency of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, the Home Minister said such processions were carried out by small groups of people as part of their subversive activities.

Regarding the recent incident in Gulshan, he said some people gathered there at around 11am claiming that they had come to offer Friday prayers. Action was later taken against them.

The minister said intelligence information about the incident was available. However, police perhaps could not anticipate that the people who had come to the area for Friday prayers would engage in such activities at that particular time.

He said the incident could not be categorically described as a failure of the police or intelligence agencies, as legal action was taken afterwards.

Speaking about the recent law and order situation in the capital, Salahuddin said law enforcement agencies must remain vigilant so that no banned organisation or criminal group can disrupt public safety. At the same time, efforts to identify the perpetrators of any incident and bring them to justice are continuing.