Amid the killings of drug dealers in growing 'gunfights', Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said on Monday the crackdown on the drug dealers will continue, reports UNB.
"No drug peddlers will be spared, no matter how powerful they are socially or politically. Law enforcement agencies will continue the drive against them to bring them to justice," he said while talking to news agency at the Secretariat.
A total of 29 people, mostly suspected drug dealers, were killed in reported gunfights with law enforcers in the last 10 days until Monday.
The Home Minister said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has instructed his ministry to take a 'zero-tolerance' policy against the drug trade and stop it at any cost.
As per the directives, an anti-narcotic drive has been launched making a division-wise list of drug dealers based on intelligence information, he said.
Asked how many are there on the list, Asaduzzaman said the exact number is not known, but it is substantial.
He refuted the claim of 'extrajudicial killings' or 'crossfires' in the name of anti-narcotics drive, saying the drug dealers have firearms. "Whenever law enforcers go to arrest them, they often open fire on them forcing them to retaliate in self-defence which results in one or two incidents of killings."
The Home Minister claimed that gunfights take place in all the countries dealing with drugs.
"We don't think it won't happen in Bangladesh. We witness drug dealers open fire first. So it's normal that police will fire back," he said describing it as an act of self-defence, rather than 'gunfight' or 'crossfire'.
Asked only small fish are getting killed in 'gunfights', the minister said the law enforcement agencies are conducting the anti-narcotics drive following the list. "Every drug peddler will be punished."
As of Monday, he said, mobile court drives have sentenced over 2,000 drug dealers to different jail terms ranging from 1-6 months. "Only one or two isolated incidents of drug dealers are getting killed which are hitting the headlines," he said.
Replying to a query whether Bangladesh is following the path taken the Philippines and Thailand against drugs, Asaduzzaman said the law enforcement agencies will follow the list compiled by intelligence agencies.
