The Bangladesh Army on Thursday said that they had taken major Sadikul Islam Sadek into custody over the allegation of training Awami League men, adding that they would take necessary actions if Sadek was found guilty in the investigation.
Brigadier General Md Nazim-ud-Daula, director, Military Operations Directorate at Army Headquarters, disclosed the information in response to a question at a press conference at the Officers Mess at the Dhaka cantonment over some media reports and social media posts which claimed that聽 serving Major Sadikul was training Awami League people to create instability in the country.
鈥榃e have taken Sadek into custody. We are investigating into the allegations. If he is proved guilty in the investigation, necessary actions would be taken against him,鈥� said Nazim.
Replying to a question over the fighter jet crash on Milestone School and聽 College killing at least 34 people, mostly students, he claimed that a Bangladesh Army team reached the spot first within two minutes after the incident as there was an army camp within 150-200 yards from the spot.
鈥楾here were criticisms that bodies were concealed and teachers beaten. If any children鈥檚 bodies were concealed, parents would have come and said that their children were missing,鈥� he said, posing a question why the Bangladesh Army would conceal bodies and what they would benefit from concealing bodies.
Brigadier General Nazim said that all the allegations against army were rumors.
Asked about the home adviser鈥檚 remarks that the army opened fire during the Gopalganj violence and the army gave protection to the National Citizen Party, he said that army used force as there was a possibility of killing leaders of a political party.
鈥楢 high-powered government investigation committee was formed headed by a justice over the Gopalganj violence,鈥� he added.
Remarking that the army did not give special attention to any political party, he said that the army would come forward when any citizen鈥檚 life would be at stake.
Asked about Kuki-Chin National Front buying arms from the Arakan Army in the absence of army camps along Myanmar borders in Bandarbans and KNF鈥檚 dominance in the area, he said that it was nothing abnormal about the link between the KNF and the Arakan Army considering the Arakan Army鈥檚 situation.
鈥楾he Arakan Army and the KNF are from similar groups with allied intentions. I would not be surprised if the KNF bought arms from the Arakan Army,鈥� he said.
Denying the allegations of KNF control in these areas, he said that the area was under the Bangladesh Army control.
At the press briefing, Colonel Md Shafiqul Islam, colonel staff at the Army Headquarters鈥� Military Operations Directorate, said that they had arrested 813 people, including listed and identified crime suspects, members of teenage gangs, and robbers, and other crime suspects in the past four weeks, raising the total number of arrestees to 16,459 so far during the interim government鈥檚 tenure.
The army officer said that the Bangladesh Army had recovered 37 illegal arms and 179 rounds of bullets in the past four weeks. Thus, the army has recovered 9,729 arms out of the 12,119 looted ones and 2,87,033 rounds of bullets out of 3,90,975 looted ammunitions during the government鈥檚 tenure.
