Air Force fired no gunshot on local people in Cox’s Bazar: ISPR

Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) has not fired any gunshot on people in Cox’s Bazar and rather fired blank shots to protect a key-point installation as some miscreants attacked its base there, the ISPR said in a statement today.

“Blank shots were shot to protect the key point installation by the members of the Air Force in line with their Rules of Engagement, but no gunshot was fired on the local people,” read the statement issued by the Inter Service Public Relations (ISPR) directorate of the Defence Ministry.

But, it said, a vested quarter was spearheading a campaign in social media that a youth was shot dead by the air force “which is not true” and rather aimed at tarnishing the image of the air force.

The statement said the cartridge which was shown to have killed the youth was actually a “blank cartridge” which just could cause sound and was “not a lethal bullet”.

“Bangladesh Air Force expresses its deep shock at the death of a youth and conveys its sympathy to the members of his family,” it said.

The ISPR clarified the Cox’s Bazar incident saying “some local miscreants” of Samitipara area adjacent to the beach resort town launched a sudden attack on the air force base in Cox’s Bazar today.

It said the air force check-post personnel took a motorbike rider inside the base for interrogation by the BAF provost as he did not have any valid paper of the vehicle. At that time over 200 people of the Samitipara advanced towards the installation, prompting the air force personnel to stop them.

“Later as the number of local people increased, a clash erupted between the air force personnel and some miscreants of the Samitipara. The miscreants at the instigation of evil quarters threw brickbats on the members of the air force at the scene,” the statement said.

It said the brickbats hurled by the miscreants wounded several people including four air force personnel, out of them one is an officer and three others are airmen. They are now undergoing treatment. 

The statement said one of the critically wounded youth named Shihab Kabir Nahid was rushed to a local hospital by BAF transport where he succumbed to his injury.

The ISPR said it was also observed that some online news portals and social media platforms with a dishonest motive described the BAF installation as BAF Base Sheikh Hasina, which actually was renamed as BAF Base Cox’s Bazar under a government notification on December 2, 2021.