The allegation that certain political parties and civilians were involved in the recent attempt in the army to overthrow the government is being examined, Planning Minister Air vice-Marshal (retd) AK Khandker told the House yesterday.
So far involvement of a banned extremist organisation, and one civilian called Ishraq Ahmed has been found, Khandker, also the in-charge of the defence ministry in parliamentary affairs, said in response to lawmakers' queries.
Ishraq is now abroad, he added.
The minister said the court of enquiry formed by the army on December 28 last year was working to find out the motive, magnitude of the attempt and the people involved in it.
“The government and the intelligence agencies have been working relentlessly to arrest the fugitives and bring the culprits to justice,” he said.
On January 19, the Bangladesh Army in a press briefing disclosed that it has foiled an “attempt within the army to topple the democratic government” and that a band of religious fanatics, comprised of mid-ranking army officers and their retired colleagues, were involved in it.
Meanwhile, Civil Aviation Minister Faruk Khan yesterday told parliament that state-owned Biman Bangladesh Airlines is incurring loss in its operations on 14 out of 17 international and domestic routes and that shortage of aircraft is causing frequent schedule failures.
He, however, mentioned various plans of the government for improving the situation.
BILLS PLACED
Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid yesterday placed a bill for setting up Prime Minister's Education Aid Trust to give stipend to needy students from class-VI to graduation level.
Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury also placed a bill seeking to set up an applied nutrition, research and training institute.
Both the bills were sent to the parliamentary standing committee on the ministries concerned for scrutiny.