Liberation War Affairs State Minister Ishraque Hossain was seen chasing people with a pistol during an anti-drug operation in Old Dhaka on Saturday, raising questions about his role in law enforcement after police said they were informed only after six people had been detained.
A video posted on Ishraque’s verified Facebook page around 5:15pm showed him stepping out of a vehicle with a megaphone in one hand and a pistol in the other before chasing a group of people near the railway tracks in Gendaria.
At one point, he pulled back the pistol’s slide, appeared to ready it for firing, pointed it towards the group and shouted, “Hey, stop, stop.” Another person in plain clothes, also carrying a firearm, was seen chasing people.
The video, captioned “Ishraque in action: Drug den demolished, dealers handed over to police”, was removed from the page within hours after drawing widespread attention on social media.
Officer-in-Charge of Gendaria Police Station Moniruzzaman Monir told TIMES that Ishraque and his associates had detained six people they identified as drug users and subsequently handed them over to police. Some powder recovered from the detainees had been sent for testing, he said.
“Police were not informed beforehand. We received a phone call after the detainees had been apprehended,” the OC said.
The incident has raised questions about the authority of a state minister and his associates to conduct such operations while carrying firearms.
Although the original video was deleted, Ishraque’s Facebook page continued to publish footage and photographs of the operation. A video posted around 6pm showed police taking a person away, while eight photographs published around 8pm accompanied a post titled “State Minister Ishraque conducts raid on drug den in Dhaka-6, six detained”.
The remaining posts also drew mixed reactions from Facebook users.
Muhammad Nizam Uddin Farid said he supported the operation but argued that law enforcement personnel should have accompanied the minister.
Abdul Halim praised the minister’s actions, writing, “The action with the pistol was impressive; it felt like a scene from a Tamil movie.”
Sakhawat Hossain Khan, however, questioned the use of a firearm, writing, “Can anyone use a pistol openly like this?”
The posts said Ishraque, who is also the Dhaka-6 MP, had vowed to continue anti-drug operations until the constituency was free of drugs.
“We brought down the government through a movement against the autocratic regime. Drug traders will not be spared, regardless of which party they belong to. If anyone from my own party is involved, their punishment will be even harsher,” he was quoted as saying.
In a separate video posted around 9pm, Ishraque addressed local residents after the operation and reiterated his pledge to take action against drug traders regardless of their political affiliation.
