Open fire on traders!
At least 15 traders were injured and eight were shot with shotgun pellets when the police opened fire and charged batons on them during a mobile court drive inside Banani Super Market on Thursday. The police opened fire following the order of a magistrate as a squabble broke out between the traders and the police, when the former allegedly questioned the drive and the fines imposed on them by the magistrate.
Even though the magistrate claims that shots were fired in the air, a photo published in The Daily Star clearly shows bullet injuries on a trader; his back was scarred with more than 100 pellets. According to the magistrate, however, the marks may have resulted from shots fired in the air which then fell on the trader's back! As to how more than 100 pellets could have plummeted from the air on one person is difficult to comprehend.
Reportedly the magistrates and police went there to evict illegally erected structures, but surely there is due process for such evictions. Why would a mobile court drive lead to such chaos that shots have to be fired on unarmed traders?
We have long been witnessing a high disregard for human lives from our law enforcers; that a magistrate, too, would show such insensitivity takes us by surprise. Our authorities need to refrain from taking such harsh measures in violation of civic rights and established rules for opening firing.
A probe should be conducted to determine who overstepped the boundaries. Those in charge of law enforcement carry a greater onus as high-handedness on their part tends to diminish confidence in rule of law.
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