Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has asked State Minister for Liberation War Affairs Ishraque Hossain to resign after widespread criticism of his public display of a pistol while chasing suspected drug users in Dhaka, two highly placed government sources told the New Nation on Sunday.
Ishraque dismissed the reports as rumours, and his office issued a statement denying that any resignation instruction had been given.
One source said the prime minister summoned Ishraque after Sunday’s cabinet meeting at the Secretariat and told him to step down.
The source claimed he wrote a resignation letter in an office at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO)
and submitted it there.
The source could not say whether it had been accepted. A second source said Ishraque was not allowed to attend the cabinet meeting. Both said senior government figures viewed the episode as a serious embarrassment.
Ishraque’s personal secretary, Ariful Islam, neither confirmed nor denied the reports. “Please have patience. Ishraque sir will brief tomorrow,” he said.
Asked whether the reported move was meant to clear the way for Ishraque to contest the upcoming Dhaka mayoral election, he laughed and replied, “Why did you bring up this topic now?” Ishraque later sent an audio message to a group of journalists. “I sincerely request everyone to treat this matter as a rumor.
There is no truth to it at this point,” he said. He began to add, “If we, as a party, make any such decision, then it will be…” before the recording ended.
His press officer, Mahfuz Kabir Mukta, issued a stronger denial, calling the reports “false, baseless, fabricated and politically motivated.”
The statement said Ishraque was continuing his official duties and had received no resignation instruction from the government’s highest levels.
It demanded that media outlets withdraw the reports and threatened legal action over what it called disinformation.
Pistol, chase and police inquiry
The controversy began on Saturday, when videos on social media showed Ishraque carrying a pistol and chasing suspected drug users near Gendaria Railway Station in Dayaganj.
Several associates accompanied him, and the operation was reportedly carried out without prior coordination with local police. Six people were later handed over to police.
The footage drew criticism over why a sitting lawmaker and member of the government was personally pursuing suspects with a firearm instead of leaving enforcement to the police.
The Dhaka Metropolitan Police ordered an investigation on Sunday. Detective Branch chief Shafiqul Islam said the deputy commissioner of Wari Division had been tasked with determining whether any laws were broken, and that legal action would follow if wrongdoing was established.
Ishraque said the pistol was licensed and shown only for self-defence. He claimed 30 to 35 people approached his motorcade in a threatening manner and that law enforcement agencies had earlier warned him of possible attacks.
He denied threatening anyone or firing the weapon, saying repeated complaints about drug trafficking and inadequate police action prompted his intervention. His office maintained that displaying the firearm was lawful.
The episode has raised questions about the limits of ministerial authority and whether a firearms licence allows a public officeholder to join a law enforcement operation personally.