Attackers of Netrakona MP must be punished: Fakhrul

Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives Minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir today (26 April) told Parliament that perpetrators behind the attack on Jamaat MP Masum Mustafa in Netrakona must be identified and brought to justice.

"The real perpetrators must be identified and punished," he said, pointing at the opposition lawmaker, Masum Mustafa, who raised the issue in the House and sought security for himself, his family and activists in his Netrakona-5 constituency.

Calling the incident "very unfortunate," the minister said, "We all have strongly condemned the incident and felt deeply saddened by it," he said.

Fakhrul said the Leader of the House (Prime Minister Tarique Rahman) has assured him that a fair investigation would be ensured in this incident.

The minister said nine people have already been arrested in connection with the attack, and further action would be taken following a proper investigation.

Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad, Bir Bikram, who was chairing the House, also termed the attack on a member of parliament very unfortunate and said the entire House was united in demanding strict action against the actual culprits.

"The whole Parliament is in agreement that stern action should be taken, and the minister has already said that the real offenders must be arrested. You should wait to see the outcome," the Speaker told Masum Mustafa.

Earlier, the Jamaat lawmaker said he came under an attack on Friday evening in Purbadhala when his vehicle was vandalised, and he was besieged at a filling station.

He told Parliament that while returning after work, he stopped at the filling station due to a large number of vehicles and later went to a mosque there for Maghrib prayers.

During that time, a group he described as terrorists posing as BNP activists attacked his vehicle, he said.

The Jamaat lawmaker alleged the attackers later attempted to find him inside the mosque, threatened to kill him and tried to break down the mosque door with weapons, but worshippers resisted and locked the doors.

Mustafa claimed professional killers were deployed to assassinate him and said that had the worshippers failed to resist, Parliament might have had to bring a condolence motion for him and the MPs might have had to observe a one-minute silence instead.

Seeking protection, the lawmaker appealed to the speaker, the prime minister and the home minister to ensure security for himself, his family and party activists in his constituency.