Culprits will be punished

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday expressed her government's firm resolve to arrest and punish the culprits in the recent abduction and killing of seven people in Narayanganj, no matter how influential they might be.
She was in an informal discussion with her colleagues at the weekly cabinet meeting. Most ministers and state ministers stressed the need for putting an end to abductions and killings, cabinet sources told The Daily Star.
The cabinet discussed the overall law and order in the country and the allegation made against Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) that it kidnapped and killed Narayanganj city councillor Nazrul Islam in exchange for Tk 6 crore. The complaint was made by Nazrul's father-in-law Shahidul Islam on Sunday.
Ministers observed that such killings were aimed at tarnishing the image of the country and destabilising the government in a planned way.    
That one of the Rab-11 officials, who has been withdrawn after the seven-murder incident, is a relative of a minister also came up in the informal discussion, added the sources.
The PM further mentioned that any incident of abduction or extra judicial killing will be investigated by a special unit of the law enforcement agency in future.  
Several cabinet members, including the PM, blasted BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia for holding the government responsible for abductions and killings. “It was the BNP and Khaleda Zia who had carried out grenade attack on an Awami League rally by a special battalion and killed 24 party leaders and activists, including Ivy Rahman,” a minister quoted the PM as saying.
The meeting also discussed the recently published book “Tajuddin Ahmad: Neta o Pita”, by Tajuddin's daughter Sharmin Ahmad. The book deals with history of Bangladesh's Liberation War and the post-liberation period.
A few cabinet members claimed that some passages of the book were written as part of a conspiracy.