DHAKA, Aug 31, 2017 (BSS) – Against the backdrop of last year’s militant attacks, the country’s largest Eidgah Sholakia has been brought under four-tier security arrangements with the deployment of a large number of law enforcers, including police, RAB and BGB.
“We have brought the Sholakia Eidgah under a four-tier security arrangement with deployment of four platoons of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) personnel and a large number of police, RAB and Ansar personnel,” Md Anwar Hossain, superintendent of police in Kishoreganj, told BSS this afternoon.
Asked about the threat of any militant attack on the Eid jamaat, he said “We have taken the security measures keeping all aspects in the mind for ensuring smooth and peaceful holding of the largest Eid congregation.”
Closed Circuit Camera Television (CCTVs) and watch towers have been set up at each of the entry points of Kishoreganj town and the Sholakia Eidgah to make the security foolproof, he said, adding none will be allowed to enter the Eidgah without search.
Plain clothed personnel from different intelligence agencies have been entrusted with strict vigilance in and around Sholakia, the district police chief said.
Police are now conducting searches at different houses and the house owners have been asked not to rent out their houses to new tenants.
The Eid jamaat will begin at 9:00 am on Saturday following the custom of opening blank fire. Imam of Markaj Mosque Maulana Md Fazlur Rahman will administer the jamaat.
On July 7 in 2016, two police constables were killed while a dozen others including six cops were injured as a gang of seven to eight militants, armed with explosives, machetes and firearms, battled with law enforcers for more than an hour.
A woman and a suspected attacker also died during the fight when the attackers tried to cross the police checkpoint near a school in an attempt to reach the Eidgah.