Govt will do everything to stop bloodshed in CHT: Home minister

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal on Thursday said the government will do everything to stop killings, clashes and extortion in the Chattogram hill tracts (CHT).

He said Armed Police Battalion (APBn) has been introduced in the hill tracts according to the Chattogram Hill Tracts Peace Accord to maintain the law and order.

The APBn personnel will take the charge of those camps from which the army personnel were withdrawn, he added.   

Asaduzzaman Khan said these while addressing a rally  at Rangamati Sukhi Nilganj Armed Police Battalion regional office after laying foundation stones of the regional office and three APBn offices in the three hill districts at Thursday noon. 

Home Ministry's Public Security Division Senior Secretary Md Akhter Hossain presided over the function while Chattogram Hill Tracts Affairs Minister Bir Bahadur Ushwe Sing, Parliamentary Standing Committee Chairman on the Ministry of Food Dipankar Talukdar, lawmakers Kujendra Lal Tripura and Basanti Chakma, Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam, IGP Benazir Ahmed, Rab Director General Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun, DGFI Director General Major General Ahmed Tabrez Shams Chowdhury, were, among others, present at the rally. 

The home minister said then Awami League government signed the Chattogram Hill Tracts Peace Accord with Parbatya  Chattogram Jana Sanghati Samity(PCJSS) for permanent peace in the hill tracts. The government always wants that peace prevails in the region.

About the newly launched APBn offices, he said APBn is a part of the police and they will take action against the extortionists and terrorists besides stopping killing sand bloodshed in the hills.

"The government will take stern action against the extortionists and terrorists," he warned.