Bangladesh News

Former housing and public works minister Mirza Abbas now attacks the press and Awami League (AL) President Sheikh Hasina for spreading ‘lies’ about the shooting at the house of Mirza family on December 18, that left his brother Khokon and sister-in-law Masuda bullet-hit.

Talking publicly about the incident for the first time yesterday at a press conference, Abbas, however, failed to reply the queries of the journalists and only blasted the media for publishing ‘whatever they liked.’ Five brothers of Masuda were also with him at the press conference held at the Dhaka Reporters Unity.

“I would file a libel suit against her [Hasina] if she fails to bring enough evidence to prove me guilty within the next three days, ” Abbas said. On Thursday, Hasina raised questions about the police’s reluctance to take actions against Abbas ‘even after he shot his brother and sister-in-law at his own house.’

Abbas and his family denied the shooting at first and later gave several contradictory statements regarding the incident and the consequences.

As the former minister blamed the press for publishing ‘lies’ about the incident, the journalists asked him what the ‘truth’ was. He then said that he is yet to know about it.

He claimed that he was not involved in the shooting in any way, which was probably a ‘misfire.’ He neither heard anything about it from his brother Khokon nor did he have any chance to talk about it with Masuda, he added.

Asked how the shooting took place, Abbas said he was asleep and woke up after hearing the gunshot. “None was inside the bed room except Masuda and Khokon when I went inside,” he said, “At first, I thought the shooting happened due to personal feud, but later I came to know it was a misfire.”

The brothers of Masuda also supported Abbas’s claim that the press has been lying about the incident. They also backtracked on what they had said about the incident earlier.

Earlier, Masuda’s eldest brother Harunur Rashid had told some reporters that his niece (Khokon’s daughter) called and informed him that Khokon had shot his wife. But yesterday in a statement they said, “We never made any such statements to the media.”

They, however, remained silent when a reporter asked them if they would like to hear the recorded conversation he had with Harun earlier.

Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Motijheel Police Station Ainul Hoq yesterday told The Daily Star that he went to take Masuda’s statement but physicians at the Apollo Hospital did not allow him to talk to the patient. “I requested them to take the statement,” he added.

Meanwhile, doctors yesterday recorded Masuda’s statement but did not hand it over to police.

The media manager of the hospital Giasuddin told the press that the patient’s condition is better now. “She is speaking and is able to take her food by herself,” he said.