Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday asked the Home Minister to boost security and safety measures of all gas fields and power plants in the country.
The Prime Minister instruction follows an Indian newspaper report regarding the threat from the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) to blow up Bangladesh gas transmission lines including the Bibiana Gas Field in Sylhet.
According to a source in the Prime Minister’s office, the instruction was given during a coordination meeting on reviewing the progress of Prime Minister’s six priority projects held on Wednesday at the PMO.
Sources said the Prime Minister asked the Home Minister to boost security measures in the key-point installations including several important establishments across the country.
The district level administrations where such important installations exist were also asked to beef up security measures immediately so that no one can harm those.
The authorities concerned assured the Prime Minister that necessary steps have already been taken in this connection. The law enforcement agencies have been working to ensure adequate security and safety of those establishments, sources said.
Immediately after learning about the threat of ULFA, the authorities’ concerned increased security at Bangladesh’s largest natural gas field Bibiyana operated by Chevron. The government said on Monday citing a rare threat by a militant group operating in neighbouring India.
Quoting Bangladesh’s Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, the newspaper said Bangladesh had received warnings from the Indian authorities that the ULFA was planning to target pipelines at the Bibiyana Gas Field in northeastern Bangladesh.
The Bibiyana field, located 278 kilometres from Dhaka, accounts for 45 per cent of the country’s gas output.
In 2014, a Bangladesh court sentenced ULFA leader Paresh Barua to death in absentia for his part in a huge arms smuggling operation which was discovered 10 years ago.
Chevron said it is aware of the threat to its operations in Bibiyana.