“The Bangladesh’s security agencies are yet to make any arrests or name suspects in the murder case,” said Alauddin Alaskari, deputy foreign minister for protocol affairs, here yesterday.
Alaskari said that “a four-member team of Saudi officials had been sent to Dhaka to assist the Bangladeshi security agencies in the investigation of the diplomat’s murder.” Al-Ali, 45, an official with the consular section of the Saudi Embassy in Dhaka, was shot dead by unknown gunmen near his Gulshan house in the wee hours of March 6 this year. He died at Dhaka’s United Hospital, where he was admitted in a serious condition after receiving severe gun injuries.
Asked about the composition of the Saudi team that has been sent to Bangladesh, Alaskari said that “the Saudi delegation comprised officials from the ministries of interior and foreign affairs.” “Our main objective is to identify the culprits and bring them to book,” said the deputy foreign minister. “The Bangladeshi police have failed so far to track the killers,” said another official, who refused to give his name. “The police in that country has nothing to offer…who were the killers? What was the motive behind the killing? The police has simply no answers,” said the official.
On March 21, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni arrived in the Saudi capital and apprised the Saudi government of the progress of investigation into the killing of Al-Ali and assured that no stone will be left unturned and no possibility would be ignored in the investigation. “But nothing, no results have been achieved so far,” he added. The police in Bangladesh should intensify efforts to capture the men behind the heinous crime, said the official, calling to solve the case of the murder as early as possible.
Saudi ambassador to Bangladesh Dr. Abudllah Al Bussairy, who was in Riyadh recently, also expressed his deep sorrow on the murder of his staffer and voiced concerns over the investigation. In fact, the law and order situation in Bangladesh has gone into its worst ever form, said a report carried by “Blitz,” a weekly tabloid published from Dhaka. Recently the ruling party has totally failed even in properly investigating the murder of a journalist couple in Dhaka city.
“But the worst ever picture of country’s prevalent law and order situation became clear when the Saudi diplomat was murdered in the diplomatic enclave in the capital city,” said the report, adding that Bangladesh is in a very precarious condition today. The lives and properties of the people are not safe… even the foreigners are not safe, said the report. Bangladesh, a Muslim-majority nation, enjoys good relations with Saudi Arabia, which is a top destination for Bangladeshi migrant workers.
Currently, about two million Bangladeshi nationals are working in Saudi Arabia. Moreover, Saudi Arabia is one of the biggest donors of Bangladesh. Following the murder of the Saudi diplomat in Bangladesh, there is now apprehension of beginning of a real crisis centering two million Bangladeshi workers in Saudi Arabia, if the government will fail to identify the culprits within shortest span of time. Of late, Bangladesh has become very crime-prone.
A couple of months back, two well-known TV journalists in were murdered in yet unexplained circumstances at their Dhaka home where they lived with their only child. In another case, a US citizen was brutally murdered at her residence at Shimulia, Gazaria under Munshiganj district in Bangladesh. In fact, crime in Bangladesh is present in various forms. Organized crime include drug trafficking, murder, money laundering, extortion and fraud.
Other criminal operations in that country include human trafficking, corruption, black marketeering, political violence, terrorism, abduction and above all killings. Bangladesh has also emerged as a major transit country for illegal drugs produced in neighboring countries. According to a report published by the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), Bangladesh has become the main transit point for trafficking of heroin to Europe from Southeast Asia.
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