Spate of abductions likely to hurt business environment Political advisers, traders say
Nizam Ahmed
The recent spate of kidnappings is likely to vitiate the trade and investment environment in the country unless the administration takes effective steps to stop the crime, experts and traders said on Saturday.
Kidnapping of political leaders, activists, diplomats, traders and also felons occurred frequently during the last few months, though the stigma has been haunting the nation for the last decade, they said.
The latest kidnapping of Ilias Ali, a central leader of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has created a sense of insecurity that is likely to leave an adverse impact on trade and investment in the country, traders said.
Kidnapping and subsequent killing as occurred in most cases must be stopped. Government should make sincere efforts to rescue the victims from the clutches of the kidnappers, analysts said.
The administration should also take strong measure to stop recurrence of such crimes. Otherwise, people will lose confidence on the government and the state apparatus, they said.
"The government should take steps so that such crimes do not recur, otherwise sense of insecurity will rise among the people," Akbar Ali Khan, former adviser to the caretaker government told the FE.
Strong administrative steps against criminal activities are the only remedy against deterioration of the situation, Akbar Ali, a veteran analyst of the country's socio-political situation said.
"Trade and commerce are likely to face snags and investment opportunities may be jeopardized without an improvement in law and order," a leader of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) told the FE.
A sense of insecurity is likely to cause anarchy and lawlessness in the country. It may also give ground to those who want to brand the country "a failed state," another analyst said.
"It is duty of the government to ensure security to the people of all strata. The law enforcing agencies should expedite investigations into kidnapping," National Human Rights Commission Chairman Mizanur Rahman told reporters on Saturday.
Most of the 100 people kidnapped over the last three years were later killed and subsequently their bodies recovered from different areas, rights group Ain O Salish Kendra (AOSK) said.
A total of 22 people including political leaders, activists and students went missing since early this year, AOSK, headed by Sultana Kamal, former adviser to the past caretaker government said in a statement.
Bodies of two-thirds of the kidnapped people were later found, but the fate of others was not known, according to Odhikar, another human rights watchdog of the country.
Though the fate of others is yet to be known, it is presumed that they had been killed and their remains were destroyed or concealed by the perpetrators.
In all the incidents law enforcing agencies and intelligence groups, criminal investigation departments, police and the RAB failed to unearth the clue, the rights watchdogs said.
"It is clear that a very powerful group is behind all the abductions," another crime analyst said.
Spate of abductions likely to hurt business environment Political advisers, traders say