Law, order better than any time in decade: Sahara

The home minister, Sahara Khatun, on Wednesday claimed that law and order now was better than any time in a decade.

Sahara said this at a press conference after a meeting of an inter-ministerial task force composed of home affairs, foreign affairs and law ministries on brining back home the convicted accused in the Mujib murder case hiding in other countries.

Asked about an increasing number of cases of disappearance and secret killing, she repeated her speech and said, 'According to reports

of the mass media at home and abroad, Bangladesh's law and order is better than any time in 10 years.'

the law minister, Shafique Ahmed, said, 'How has the number of such incidents increased? Such incidents also took place in the past. We get to know of them as such incidents are now reported in the mass media.'

As for allegation of involvement of the law enforcement agencies in such disappearance and secret killing as an alternative to extrajudicial ways such as 'crossfire,' she said that there were law enforcement agencies, courts and the home ministry to look into such allegations. Aggrieved people could easily get justice by way of laws, she added.

As for bringing back home six fugitive convicts of the Mujib murder case, Shafique said that the government was making all-out efforts, including resorting to legal means, to bring back home Noor Chowdhury from Canada and Rashed Chowdhury from the United States.

He said that foreign and home affairs ministry were working to bring back the two convicts.

Shafique, however, said that the government was yet to identify the whereabouts of the remaining four convicts as they were moving about.

Of the 12 convicted, five were hanged to death, one died abroad and six others are in hiding.

Asked about the probable complications in bringing back home any condemned convicts from Canada as the law there does not allow execution, Shafique said that they could appeal to the Appellate Division, seek review of the High Court judgement and seek presidential clemency.