Sarail OC withdrawn over funeral crowd

The officer-in-charge of Brahmanbaria’s Sarail Police Station has been withdrawn following the incident of tens of thousands of people attending the funeral of an Islamist party’s leader.

Bangladesh Police headquarters said in a statement on Saturday that Md Shahadat Hossain was removed as he has failed to take proper actions measures over massive turnout of the people in the upazila.

As many as 100,000 people flocked to the namaz-e-janaza of Maulana Jubayer Ahmed Ansari, a senior nayeb-e-ameer of Bangladesh Khelafat Majlish, in the east central district’s Sarail.

The incident not only raises concerns about the risks of contagion, but also throws up questions about the role of the authorities, especially the law enforcers, who have been constantly maintaining that strict measures were in place across the country to ensure social distancing.

For their part, police in Brahmanbaria say that despite all-out efforts they could not stop the surge of people.