Staff Correspondent:

Home Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury on Monday said around 35,000 Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) members will be deployed during the upcoming national parliamentary election.

He made the remark while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the BGB Day programme at Pilkhana.

Jahangir said the home ministry has taken “all kinds of preparations” for the election and that BGB was also taking all necessary steps in this regard.

He said weapons were being seized regularly, with “one or two” recovered daily and, on some days, five foreign pistols seized.

He apprehended that bomb attacks could be used to disrupt a fair election, alleging that “fascists” would keep trying. With cooperation from all, he said, the election would be fair, peaceful, and festive, and acceptable to all.

Asked about Meghalaya Police’s claim that it had not arrested anyone in the killing of Inqilab Moncho spokesperson Sharif Osman Hadi, Jahangir said an overnight statement addressed the matter and urged reporters to read it.

Regarding the Keraniganj madrasa blast, the home adviser said the person behind the act was on the run, while an accomplice had been arrested. The suspect’s wife was also taken into custody.

The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) issued a press release clarifying its position regarding the escape of the prime suspects in the Osman Bin Hadi murder case, saying that its information was based on confessional statements of arrestees in Bangladesh and multiple field sources.

The clarification followed reports in Indian media in which the Meghalaya Police and the Border Security Force (BSF) denied claims that the suspects had been traced or that their associates had been detained in Indian territory.

The DMP said, “We have arrested several individuals who assisted Faisal Karim and Alamgir Sheikh in crossing the border. Based on their confessional statements, we confirmed that the perpetrators have crossed the border.”

Addressing the conflicting reports regarding the detention of two Indian nationals, identified as Purti and Sami, the DMP explained that the information originated from intelligence gathered in border areas.

“Multiple sources in the border areas informed us that the Meghalaya authorities detained two individuals who assisted these criminals in entering India and finding shelter there. Based on this information, we shared the news of their detention,” the release added.

The release also said BGB had deferred all official day events on December 20 after the government declared a day of mourning following Osman Hadi’s death, and later decided to observe BGB Day today (December 29, 2025).

BGB Day-2025 was observed at Pilkhana headquarters, where Jahangir conferred medals on 72 members for meritorious service. This year, 12 members received the Border Guard Bangladesh Medal (BGBM), 24 received the President’s Border Guard Medal (PBGM), 12 received the BGBM-Service, and 24 received the PBGM-Service.