Sheikh Hasina has said a certain quarter is “conspiring” to foil the inauguration of the Padma Bridge, describing the recent fire incidents, including the deadly BM Container Depot inferno, as “mysterious”.
The prime minister ordered the chiefs of the three forces, police and other law-enforcing agencies to be alert to the possibilities of sabotage at the opening ceremony scheduled for Jun 25, reports bdnews24.com.
“You’ll have to watch out because the people who opposed this [the move to build the bridge] have some objectives,” she said at the 36th anniversary of the Special Security Force at her office on Wednesday.
"We also have some information that an incident will be carried out so that we can’t hold the opening ceremony. We don’t know what they’ll do,”
“How so many fire incidents have occurred in a short period of time!” she said, referring to the blazes in BM Depot, Parabat Express train and a ferry on the Padma river.
Hasina said the authorities have a video of the Parabat Express fire that shows flames near the wheels under a carriage. “How was it possible? These are all mysterious.”
She ordered the security forces to keep an eye on the key structures of Bangladesh, reiterating the allegation that Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus had influenced the World Bank decision to shun the plan to fund the project after he was removed as the managing director of the Grameen Bank.
Hasina mentioned the high-tech parks, Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, metrorail, elevated expressway and the tunnel under the Karnaphuli river while asking for tough security.
She also alerted the law enforcers to the possibility that the “perpetrators” will use technology to carry out their plan.
The prime minister hailed them for their efforts to curb militancy. “Please keep in mind that a certain quarter tries to carry out incidents whenever the country moves forward.”