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State Minister for Liberation War Affairs Ishraq Hossain.
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has directed State Minister for Liberation War Affairs Ishraq Hossain to step down from the cabinet following widespread public outrage over his controversial armed anti-narcotics raid in the capital. The Prime Minister summoned Ishraq to his office at the Bangladesh Secretariat on Sunday afternoon (October 18) following a cabinet meeting and instructed him to submit his resignation, according to high-level government sources.
The directive came barely 24 hours after video footage circulated across social media showing the Dhaka-6 lawmaker wielding a handgun and chasing individuals in the Dayaganj Ghuntighar rail gate area near Gendaria railway station on Saturday afternoon. Accompanied by armed personal bodyguards and security personnel, Ishraq was seen shouting threats while his aides chased and assaulted suspects. The footage triggered acute discomfort and disapproval within both the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the cabinet, with party insiders remarking that an executive minister personally taking arms into the streets severely undermined the administration.
The controversy was compounded by its timing, as the armed raid occurred on the same day Prime Minister Tarique Rahman conducted unannounced inspections across 13 public installations—including hospitals and schools—to review citizen services. Government insiders noted that Ishraq’s armed spectacle eclipsed positive coverage of the premier’s governance outreach, prompting swift accountability to maintain administrative discipline. Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has also assigned the Deputy Commissioner of Wari Division to investigate whether the public brandishing of firearms violated the Ministry of Home Affairs' 2025 gun-licensing regulations.
Ishraq’s impending exit marks the second forced resignation from the ruling party within three weeks, following the departure of reserved-seat MP Ferdousi Ahmed Mishti on October 1 after close associates were implicated in an attack on the Radda Health Clinic in Mirpur.
https://thedailyexpress.news/news/national/ishraq-asked-to-resign-over-armed-raid