Bangladesh News

Army Chief General Moeen U Ahmed yesterday said an evil force wanted to destabilise the situation of the country but its design was foiled.

“An evil force taking the cue of a trifle incident on the Dhaka University campus on August 20 wanted to create anarchy in the country. Within 24 hours, they poured in crores of taka to instigate vandalism on the street.”

“But the design could not succeed as we were vigilant. Their plan to destabilise the situation and undermine the government has been foiled,” said Gen Moeen justifying the imposition of curfew on Wednesday night in Dhaka and five other cities.

The intelligence agencies are investigating to find out the evil force engaged in creating anarchy and undermining the image of the government, he added.

The army chief, who flew in here yesterday, was talking to a cross section of people at Shariatpur Circuit House at noon.

Earlier, he visited the relief centre at Water Development

Board and distributed relief materials among the flood victims. Fertiliser, paddy seedlings and vegetable seeds were also given to 300 people sheltered in the relief centre.

General Moeen said the short-lived flooding has left a trail of destruction. Besides damage to agriculture, the flood inflicted immense loss to houses, educational institutions, roads and highways. It will take time to repair the losses.

“Our duty is to help the affected people and raise their morale to recover the loss,” he added.

Gen Moeen informed that as many as 53 medical teams are providing treatment for the flood affected people of the district. He advised the people to take advantage of the facilities extended by the government.

He said the armed forces were prepared to face the flood situation. They have distributed relief materials including rice allotted to the flood affected districts by the government.

About the price of essentials the army chief said the high price of food grains and some other commodities in the international market has given rise in prices in our market.

While exchanging views with the elite of the town Gen Moyeen reiterated that election will be held by the end of 2008. He expressed the hope that people would vote for the honest people.

Shariatpur Pourasabha Chairman Sardar AKM Nasiruddin, Madaripur Pourasabha Chairman Babu Chowdhury, Deputy Commissioner Habibur Rahman, elite of the town and newsmen attended the meeting.

General Moeen was accompanied by GOC of the 9th Division Major General Ahsabuddin, Director of Military Operation Brigadier General Humayun Bakht Chowdhury and other senior civil, military and police officers.