BGB to use lethal arms if attacked
Chief of Border Guard Bangladesh Maj Gen Abdul Aziz yesterday said the paramilitary force deployed to maintain law and order would use “lethal weapons” if the force and the people came under attack.
His warning came following widespread violence in the ongoing countrywide blockade enforced by the BNP-led alliance to realise their demand for holding an election under a non-party government.
Twenty-two people were killed, of whom 11 died from petrol bomb or arson attacks while 700 others were injured in the last 10 days since January 6.
Addressing a press conference at the Pilkhana headquarters, the BGB chief said everyone should know that the BGB personnel would carry “lethal weapons” during their patrol in a number of districts to tackle blockaders.
“The BGB does not want to kill people. There is no such instruction on the Force. But any kind of attack on the force members or on the people will be resisted. It is the right of a BGB member to use his weapon in self defence,” he said. “If blockaders carry bombs or petrol bombs, it can lead to the death of five people, and, if such a scene comes into the sight of any BGB member, it is his responsibility to resist them."
The BNP last night came down heavily on the BGB boss' comments.
“We are very much concerned and strongly deplore the BGB director general's comments. Such an instruction is completely out of his jurisdiction and illegal,” BNP standing committee said in a press release yesterday.
Eighty five platoons (30 personnel in each) of the BGB have been on a round-the-clock patrol to fend off troubles in 17 districts amid the blockade while 80 more platoons have been kept standby and will be deployed whenever needed, the BGB boss noted at the press conference.
Officials from 35 district administrations had requested the deployment of BGB. Therefore, the force would be there in the field as long as people felt a “sense of security”, the BGB chief said.
The prime duties of the force are to protect border and help civil administration to maintain law and order. The BGB will also form a sniffer-dog squad of 20 dogs soon, he added.
Having been obstructed by police to come out of her Gulshan office to attend a rally, Khaleda Zia on January 5 announced a nonstop blockade till her party's demand was met.
Meanwhile, State Minister for Home Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said the government would do everything possible to resist any kind of violence in the name of BNP-Jamaat's blockade. He was talking to reporters after visiting the burn unit at the DMCH around 8:30pm yesterday.
Answering to a query about the BGB chief's statement on the use of weapons by the paramilitary force, he said Abdul Aziz must have spoken in line with the responsibility given to him.
Dispelling the fear that indiscriminate shooting at the sight of bomb carriers might claim lives of innocent people, the home boss said no such thing would happen.
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