Authorities in Bangladesh have removed a police officer for failing to prevent tens of thousands of people from defying a nationwide lockdown imposed in response to the coronavirus crisis and attending the funeral of a top Islamic cleric.
Shahadat Hossain Titu, the Officer-in-Charge of Sarail Police Station in Brahmanbaria, has been removed for allowing the people to gather for the funeral prayers, the police headquarters said in a statement on Saturday.
Titu's failure to take proper steps to prevent the gathering is the reason behind the decision to remove him, bdnews24.com reported.
Tens of thousands of people attended the funeral of Mawlana Jubayer Ahmed Ansari at a local madrasa on Saturday, defying a nationwide lockdown in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak that has killed 84 people and infected 2,144.
Ansari, 55, who was the nayeb-e-ameer (deputy) of Bangladesh Khelafat Majlish, died at Bertala village in Sarail upazila on Friday night.
His funeral took place just days after the government announced that the entire country was at risk of succumbing to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed 160,917 and infected over 2.3 million people worldwide.
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The huge gathering at the funeral drew criticism on social media from locals as well as citizens from different parts of the country.
"50,000 people have gathered in Brahmanbaria, Bangladesh to attend the funeral prayer of a religious leader Moulana Zubair Amad Ansari, defying the ban on mass gatherings during the lockdown. Stupid govt didn't even try to stop these stupid people," author Taslima Nasreen tweeted.
"We did not think the gathering would be this big. Police could not do anything as the situation was out of control because of the massive gathering," a local police officer said.
Additional Superintendent of Police Md Alamgir Hossain said they had asked the madrasa authorities to maintain social distancing and ensure all preventative steps during the funeral.
Bangladesh imposed a nationwide lockdown on March 26 as coronavirus spread across the country.
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