Editorial
Break-in at railway offices
Swift, thorough action against culprits must be taken
THE daring break-in at railway headquarters in Dhaka as well as its offices in Chittagong is stunning in its scope and dimension. The very fact that 56 rooms at the headquarters in Dhaka were left ransacked, along with a theft of documents from the Chittagong office, gives every indication of its being an inside job carried out to near perfection by those involved. The question naturally arises, therefore, of what might have motivated the perpetrators of the act. And the answer, in all likelihood, is that the break-in was related to sweeping dirty linen under the rug. Important documents, are said to be missing from Dhaka and Chittagong offices. Those engaged in corruption over the years and now feeling the heat quite properly may have organised the raids as a way of removing evidence of their crime.
The government has by now initiated moves for an inquiry into the incidents. We suggest that an independent inquiry be instituted in place of departmental inquiries that have had a way in the past of shielding real culprits. If acts of criminality can be perpetrated in government offices with such impunity and if employees themselves are involved in the theft or destruction of important files and other documents, it is the entire matter of security and the safe-keeping of important papers that comes under threat. In fact, what has happened at the railway offices in Dhaka and Chittagong can rightly be regarded as acts of sabotage that must be handled decisively and in deterrent manner. We have earlier experienced instances of government files being burnt to ashes in offices, with no one being made to answer for the act. Such a nonchalant attitude must not be applied in the present instance if a repetition of such crimes at other government offices and departments is to be avoided.
We believe that the nocturnal raids on the railway offices on Sunday in Dhaka and Chittagong are a wake-up call to the government. Unless adequate, foolproof security is provided to government department premises as well as what they hold inside them, there is a danger that governance might be put at risk. The Bangladesh Railway authorities have put seven of their employees on suspension. That act must be followed by a rounding up of everyone involved, both in the break-in and its planning. Let the police department and other security agencies do the job in earnest.
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