Strict security measures for ijtema: minister

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal on Thursday said the government has taken adequate security measures ahead of the first phase of Biswa Ijtema, which will begin on Friday on the bank of  Turag river. 

“We have taken fool-proof security measures for Muslim devotees in and around the Ijtema ground,” he told a preparatory meeting of the ijtema on its premises in Gazipur.

He said law enforcers -- including police, Rab, BGB and Ansar -- will be deployed on the ground and entry points of the venue.

Senior Secretary of Public Security Division for Home Affairs Ministry Mostafa Kamal conducted the programme, where State Minister for Religious Affairs Advocate Sheikh Md Abdullah, State Minister for Youth and Sports Zahid Ahsan Russell, Inspector General of Police Dr Javed Patwari and Director General of Rab Benazir Ahmed, among others, also spoke.

The second phase of Biswa Ijtema will begin on January 17. The religious event has been taking place every year on the bank of Turag river in Tongi since 1967.