Attackers of Hero Alom will be brought to book: Kamal

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal today said all the attackers of independent candidate Ashraful Alom alias Hero Alom in the Dhaka-17 by-election, will be brought to the book.

"If there is any negligence of police regarding the attack on Hero Alom, it will also be investigated," he told journalists after a meeting with UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh Gwyn Lewis at his ministry office.

Replying to a question regarding the wearing of a boat badge by an attacker, the minister said that if there was negligence by police, police would have to answer.

"Police were deployed to ensure a peaceful environment for voters. We have already asked the police to share their observations to find out the real story," he added.

Citing the meeting, Kamal said, "We have told him (Gwynne Lewis) about the arrest of eight people in connection with the attack. We will arrest all the attackers after scrutinizing the video footage of the closed-circuit television cameras (CCTVs)."

"We will also investigate the matter and find out who was responsible for the incident during the peaceful atmosphere of the by-election voting," he added.

The minister said that she (Gwynn Lewis) wanted to know whether Hero Alom was physically assaulted or not.

"We have informed the UN Coordinator, but we cannot say why the attack took place. All arrangements were made by the government to ensure a peaceful atmosphere during the voting. But why did the incident take place at the end of the voting? We saw that Hero Alom got into an argument with some people. Later, some young men attacked him," he said.

One group will win and another group will lose the election, Kamal said, adding, "It is necessary to know who wanted to create a chaotic situation by doing such work (attack) and what their intention behind the scene was? We are trying to find out. Statements of the detained people will be taken. We will look into everything."