Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader today said the government will examine whether the collisions of ferries with the pillars of the Padma Bridge took place repeatedly due to the incompetence of the ferry masters or those might be acts of sabotage.

He came up with the remark while speaking at a discussion, organised by Awami Swechchhasebak League, at the auditorium of the Institution of Diploma Engineers, Bangladesh (IDEB) in the capital on the occasion of the National Mourning Day.

Chaired by Swechchhasebak League president Nirmal Ranjan Guha, the meeting was addressed, among others, by AL presidium member Abdur Rahman, joint general secretary AFM Bahauddin Nasim, Swechchhasebak League general secretary Afzalur Rahman Babu, and vice-presidents Gazi Meshbaul Haque Sachhu and Abdus Salam.

Speaking as the chief guest, Quader said: “Why did the ferries hit (the pillars of Padma Bridge) time and again? Not once or twice, such incidents occurred four times…we should examine whether those were incompetence of ferry masters or sabotages”.

He added: “Why would this happen time and again before the construction work of the bridge project is completed? We need to look into the matter. There was conspiracy about this project and it is not over yet.”

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