Religious Affairs Adviser Dr AFM Khalid Hossain on Sunday said taking the law into one's own hands is a major obstacle to good governance.

“This is an extremely condemnable and heinous act. We will not allow anyone to take the law into their own hands. Mob justice is a major obstacle to good governance,” he said while talking to reporters at the Secretariat.

The adviser said he had sent a message and had requested the Home Affairs Adviser to take action against those involved in the killing of a man in Mymensingh and in setting the body on fire.

Dipu Chandra Das, a local garment worker, was beaten to death by a mob over alleged blasphemy in Bhaluka Upazila of Mymensingh district on Thursday night.  His body was later set on fire.

Replying to another question, the adviser claimed that the law and order is now fully under control.

He said violent incidents were still occurring, but considering the current situation, they remained hopeful that elections would be held on time in a free, fair, inclusive and festive manner and that such an environment still existed.

Asked about recent arson attacks on two newspapers—The Daily Prothom Alo and The Daily Star—the adviser said “Efforts are on to prevent such incidents.To ensure police control at all establishments in advance is very difficult. Often, we do not know in which direction an attack may occur. That is why we always discourage such acts.”

Based on intelligence reports, several individuals involved in setting fire to Prothom Alo and The Daily Star have been identified, he said, adding, “We have already taken measures to arrest them and bring them under book.”

Regarding the attack on Chhayanaut, the adviser said that who said what was not within their jurisdiction, but as a government they could never accept arson attacks on government-approved institutions or the killing of people by burning them, adding that they considered such acts heinous crimes and were determined to bring the perpetrators to justice.

When asked whether there was any intelligence failure as attacks took place on Prothom Alo, The Daily Star, Chhayanaut and other locations across the country on the same night, Khalid Hossain said it would not be appropriate for him to label it directly as an intelligence failure.

Drawing attention to allegations of incitement from abroad, the adviser said comments made from outside the country are beyond the direct control of the Bangladesh government.

He pointed out that those were open platforms such as Meta and YouTube, which they could not directly control, and that even from within Bangladesh many people posted abusive comments every day.