The Crime Desk: The cause of the Secretariat fire is still unknown two days after the fire. All CCTVs and footage from the sixth to ninth floors of Building No. 7 were burnt in the fire, along with DVRs (digital video recorders). Various questions have been raised across the country about the fire in such a secure place of the state. Even after all the collapsible gates of the building were closed for 30 hours, the mystery of how the fire broke out in three places at the same time is not being solved. The investigation committee inspected the damaged building yesterday, Friday. On the other hand, the CID’s crime scene has collected various evidence from the scene.
Meanwhile, various questions have been raised about the body of a dog that was burnt in the fire from the eighth floor of Building No. 7. The dead dog has been taken to the forensic department. Discussions are underway on how the dog got to the 8th floor. The forensic department is trying to find out if there is anything poisonous in the dog’s body.
A third party is suspected!
Some say that such work has been planned because the previous government’s mega project files were summoned to let the cat out of the bag of the current government, which is hiding in the current government. Because recently, the mega project files of the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges, the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, and the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development, and Cooperatives have been summoned. The mysterious fire that broke out late on Wednesday night is seen to have started from the offices of these three ministries.
In addition to the law enforcement agencies, all the government’s intelligence agencies work around the clock in the Secretariat. If a third party has done this work without the eyes of these powerful intelligence agencies of the state, then it will be difficult—this is what the intelligence agencies think. However, no party in the government is opening its mouth on this matter. They say that a higher investigation committee is investigating the matter. Whoever did the work here did it to protect the interests of some party. However, this cannot be confirmed until the investigation is completed.
Meanwhile, a list of the names of all the members assigned to security inside the Secretariat on the day of the incident has been collected. The personal profiles of those engaged in security will be searched.
Investigation committee at the scene
On Friday, a weekly holiday, the Secretariat was surrounded by a tight security presence of the army, police, and Armed Police Battalion (APBN). In the morning, the eight-member investigation committee members of the Cabinet Division entered the Secretariat. Later, they held a meeting at the Secretariat. The meeting was attended by Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs Osman Gani, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Baharul Alam, Secretary of the Ministry of Housing and Public Works Md. Hamidur Rahman, Director General (DG) of the Department of Fire Service and Civil Defense Brigadier General Muhammad Zahed Kamal, Professor Tanvir Manjur of the Civil Engineering Department of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), and other members of the investigation committee. They all visited Building No. 7 of the Secretariat, which was damaged in the fire.
After the inspection, Fire Service DG Brigadier General Muhammad Zahed Kamal, a member of the investigation committee formed by the Cabinet Division, told reporters that we have inspected the damaged building. The investigation has started. The investigation is ongoing. The members of the investigation committee will meet again on Saturday (today). In response to reporters’ questions, he said that the cause of the fire cannot be commented on before the investigation is completed. The situation inside the secretariat is the same as on Thursday. Meanwhile, yesterday morning, Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sheikh Md. Sajjat Ali and the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit also inspected the damaged building.
CID’s crime scene in search of clues
CID sources said that the CID’s crime scene unit collected evidence from the rubble of six important ministries in the burned building number 7 of the secretariat yesterday morning. The crime scene unit remained inside the building until the afternoon. However, the CCTV cameras installed on different floors from the sixth to the ninth floors of the building were burnt. DVRs (digital video recorders) kept in the relevant ministries and departments have been burnt. A police team has collected footage from CCTV cameras around the building. It was seen on the ground that besides the police, members of the army have been deployed at the main gate of the Secretariat since yesterday morning. No one has been allowed to enter except those involved in the investigation, intelligence agencies, and relevant members of the law enforcement agencies. It has been learned that power supply has not yet been restored to all the buildings of the Secretariat.
Various questions about the dog’s body
Various questions have been raised about the body of the dog that was burnt in the fire from the eighth floor of building number seven. The dead dog has been taken to the forensic department. Discussions are underway on how the dog got to the 8th floor. The forensic department is trying to unravel the mystery of whether there is anything poisonous in the dog’s body. Various speculations are going on about how the dog got to the 8th floor.
Professor of Zoology at Dhaka University, Dr. Md. Aminul Islam Bhuiyan, said, In our country, foreign dogs are trained in various ways and become habituated. Some people train them to keep them at home. On the other hand, law enforcement agencies train foreign dogs as hunting dogs. But our indigenous breed of dogs, which we call street dogs, has a completely different behavior. Street dogs stay in familiar areas. They create a loyal following wherever they get food. They bark whenever they suspect a person. They will not stay in deserted places for long. They will want to come to the food place.
I have been inside the secretariat two or three times. But I have never seen dogs roaming around in the buildings. In this case, an outside dog will never enter the secretariat by evading so many security fences and go up the stairs or elevator to the eighth floor. And a dog will never secretly run up the stairs after finding the lockable gate open if there is a source of food there. Many times, if the enemy party is found due to the smelling power (smell), the dog will bark and go to that place. If that happens, then the members in charge of the security of the Secretariat will prevent the dog. I also have doubts about the recovery of the dog’s body on the eighth floor of that building.
Lax security system of the Secretariat
Due to the lax security system in the Secretariat, anyone can enter if they want. Some organizations or other parties are entering the Secretariat with demands. Many are entering the Secretariat with a procession, and they are forcing their way inside. The administration and law enforcement personnel are also annoyed with this. Crime analysts believe that there is not enough security in this important establishment. After the formation of the interim government, some organizations entered the Secretariat without permission several times with various demands. Even slogans have been raised inside the Secretariat. Again, some ministries’ officials’ rooms have been blocked. Vehicles are also allowed to enter without being searched. The issue of security came to the fore after a terrible fire broke out in building number seven of the secretariat on Wednesday night. A senior law enforcement official said there is a lack of security in the entire secretariat. We have repeatedly asked the administration to arrange for a tight security perimeter. We have received information that security was low on Wednesday night as well. The matter is being reviewed.
