Evidence will be sent to abroad, if necessary.

The first report of the high-power investigation committee that was constituted to probe into the horrific fire at the Secretariat, the heart of the administration will be submitted before the Chief Advisor on Monday. If the committee decides so, some evidence can be sent outside the country for examination.

Deputy Press Secretary to the Chief Advisor Mohammad Abul Kalam Azad Majumder informed this at a news briefing in front of the State Guest House Jamuna on Sunday. Press Secretary to the Chief Advisor Shafiqul Alam and other officials of the Press Wing were present at the time.

Deputy Press Secretary Azad Majumder said the head of the investigation committee formed to investigate the fire at the Secretariat told them today that he will hand over the initial report to the Chief Advisor tomorrow. The investigation is ongoing, he added. As part of this, they have collected the necessary evidence. Some of the evidence has been tested in the country. They said that if it is needed, some of the evidences can be sent abroad for examination.

When asked whether the issues of this preliminary report are going to be disclosed before journalists, in a news conference, Deputy Press Secretary said the head of the committee would place the report before the advisor. The chief advisor will decide further steps regarding this.

In reply to a question regarding how long it could take to complete this investigation, Azad Majumder said the investigation committee that has been formed was given three days to submit an initial investigation report. They will submit the initial report within three days. Afterwards, the chief advisor and the committee, along with other concerned authorities, will decide how many days it will actually take to complete the investigation. Nothing can be said for sure about this right now.

Policy change to issue accreditation cards: Claiming that most of the 3,000 accreditation cards for journalists entering the secretariat were fake, Advisor Nahid Islam said that new accreditation cards would be issued by changing the policy. “Today is the last day for the investigation committee we formed to submit its initial report. We aren’t allowing anyone in the secretariat until today,” he said. For that reason, you cannot enter today. There is another problem, too: at different times, the security of the Secretariat has been breached. We are considering long-term solutions in the days to come.

Extracurricular activities of departments burnt in fire at the Secretariat: Wednesday was a Christmas holiday in Bangladesh. A fire broke out in Building No. 7 of the Bangladesh Secretariat in the late night. The fire quickly spread through the Road Transport and Highways Division of the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges; two divisions of the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives; the Posts and Telecommunications Division under the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology, the Ministry of Youth and Sports, and the Ministry of Labor and Employment. Computers and furniture were reduced to ashes. There was also extensive damage to the walls and floors. The floors of the building, damaged as they are, are not available for use for the time being. Therefore, those concerned are trying to perform their duties in temporary subordinate departments under alternative arrangements. The temporary departments started cleaning and tidying up the offices yesterday. The two divisions of the Ministry of Local Government will run its activities at the Nagar Bhaban of the Dhaka South City Corporation. The Posts and Telecommunications Department will maintain its office at the GPO in Gulistan. The Labor Ministry will operate at the Labor Building in Kakrail and the Roads and Highways Department will operate at the Road Building in Tejgaon. Sources say, the Bridges Department would move to Mohakhali Bridge Building, the Youth Ministry would conduct the office work at the National Sports Building.

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