A six-member government-appointed investigation commission has begun work to find out the reasons behind multiple incidents of violence including attacks, crude bomb explosions, assaults on police, vandalism of vehicles, and arson at the National Citizens’ Party (NCP) rally in Gopalganj.
On Tuesday afternoon, the commission members visited the scene and began recording testimonies.
The commission is headed by former Justice Md. Abu Tariq. At a briefing held in the conference room of the Deputy Commissioner in the evening, he said that after collecting preliminary information in Dhaka, they came to Gopalganj to conduct an on-site investigation. “Our responsibility is to uncover the real causes behind the incident and provide recommendations to the government,” he said.
Additional Secretary of the Public Security Division Khondaker Md. Mahabubur Rahman told journalists that the government had assigned them certain specific matters to investigate, based on which they were working. “Necessary recommendations will also be included to ensure such violence does not occur in the future,” he said. The commission members stated that the investigation report will remain confidential, and the government will publish it as deemed necessary.
Earlier in the afternoon, the commission’s delegation arrived in Gopalganj and visited the incident sites. Members included Senior District and Sessions Judge Md. Saiful Islam, Commander of the 21 Infantry Brigade Brigadier General Shahidur Rahman Osmani, Director of the Central Police Hospital Additional IGP Sardar Nurul Amin, and Chairman of the Department of Peace and Conflict Studies at Dhaka University Sazzad Siddiqui. Top law enforcement officials, including Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Kamruzzaman and Superintendent of Police Md. Mizanur Rahman, were also present.
On July 16, centering on the NCP’s July march, allegations were made of attacks at the rally venue, vandalism of the stage, arson, attacks on the district jail and the Deputy Commissioner’s residence, creation of road blockades, and anti-state activities. A total of 15 cases were filed in this connection, naming 1,252 individuals from the banned Awami League and its affiliate organizations. In addition, 14,960 unnamed individuals were listed as accused.
The cases were filed at Sadar, Kalia, Tungipara, and Kotalipara police stations. Since the incident, around 350 people have been arrested in regular drives and sent to jail through the court.
