State Minister for Liberation War Affairs Ishraque Hossain on Tuesday said anyone attempting to secure gazette status for July uprising martyrs through fraudulent means would face up to five years' imprisonment and a fine of up to Tk 10 lakh.

He also said the government is taking steps to quickly gazette all July uprising martyrs who have not yet been officially recognised, while initiatives will be implemented to permanently preserve and develop their graves.

Speaking to reporters after meeting the families of July uprising martyrs in the Jatrabari area of the capital, Ishraque warned that anyone attempting to obtain gazette status fraudulently would face legal action under existing laws.

"If anyone tries to deceive the state to get enlisted, strict legal action will be taken against them," he said.

The state minister said the concerns raised by the families had been noted and necessary measures would be taken to address them.

Ishraque said the issue had also been discussed in parliament.

Ishraque alleged that the previous interim government had failed to discharge its responsibilities properly.

"Had it performed its duties properly, we would not have faced such difficulties in determining the number of martyrs even two years later, nor would the current situation have arisen," he said.

He said necessary measures have already been taken to include all those who were martyred during the July movement but are yet to be listed or gazetted.

Referring to Matuail Graveyard, Ishraque said 17 July uprising martyrs were buried there, but their graves have neither been made permanent nor developed, and no permanent allocation has yet been made.

"Although the interim government allocated funds across the country for the permanent preservation and development of martyrs' graves, irregularities and corruption have been observed in the implementation," he alleged.

He said the ministry has already collected the necessary information regarding the graves.

"These graves will be made permanent, developed and preserved. The Ministry of Liberation War Affairs will take the necessary steps as quickly as possible," he added.

The state minister said the process of identifying and gazetting genuine July martyrs would continue, but no one would be allowed to obtain gazette status through forged or fraudulent documents.

He said that after assuming office, he personally cancelled 12 gazette notifications following investigations.

"The investigations found that those individuals were not martyred while participating in the July movement. Rather, they were aligned with the fascist regime and members of law enforcement agencies. Their gazette status was therefore cancelled," he said.