DHAKA, March 29: Two days prior to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Dhaka last week, a report issued by the Bangladesh intelligence said that there were extensive preparations of bloodshed and massive attacks on police, media and government establishments.
The report said that the outlawed Jamaat-e-Islami paid huge amounts of money to stage massive attacks so that the Sheikh Hasina-led government would be questioned over the law and order situation during the visit of Modi which took place from March 26-27.
It also recommended to conduct raids in all residential hotels owned by leaders of the Jamaat-e-Islami and Hefazat-e-Islam.
“If necessary, some arrests have to be made. Jamaat-owned real estate, hospitals, insurance, madrasas, commercial buildings should be searched. Asking to close all business establishments. Involve all those in charge of law and order in the formation in which the police are deployed during the two-day strike,” it said.
The report further said that the of Jamaat-e-Islam, the ISI paid militant organization, asked to move 60 per cent of their followers to the capital Dhaka in view of Modi’s visit.
As a result, members of Islami Chhatri Sangstha, the female wing of Jamaat, and Islamic shadow organizations (including women and children), had entered Dhaka.
The leaders and workers of Jamaat-e-Islami who came from out of Dhaka were divided into three groups.
According to their plan, the first group including Shibir, student wing of Jamaat, would join different anti-Modi programmes, the intelligence report revealed.
The second group would join the anti-Modi rally with the Left Shade organization, while the third group will join the demonstration of Hefazat-shadowed six Islamist political parties.
Meanwhile, another intelligence report said that the Jamaat, Hefazat and the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party are plotting to demean Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Civil-society members have alleged that the way these organisations are staging protests clearly reveals their ill motive, adding that they want to hinder the peace and progress of the country.
The way they are staging protests is unpardonable and stern action should be taken against those perpetrators, the members said.
They further claimed that patriotic people of Bangladesh will foil any attempt to create instability by hampering the ongoing extraordinary socio-economic development.
The government has deployed Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) troops in Dhaka and other parts of the country to maintain law and order.
But in Brahmmanbaria district, Jamaat destroyed and set fire to temples, a press club, a railway station and government offices.
Local residents told IANS that not a single police official was seen during the attack on Sunday.
But police authority claimed they were acting professionally and sincerely to prevent any untoward situation in the country.
At least 500 people were injured as violence swept Bangladesh amid a nationwide dawn-to-dusk shutdown called by Hefazat and Jamaat on Sunday, officials said.
An official of the Ministry of Home Affairs said at least 500 people were injured by the militants’ attacks, while a case accusing 500 Hefazat members of violence was filed on Sunday evening, but no one has been arrested yet.