Omar Faroque Chowdhury, chairman of Jubo League (JL), has said they would take action against the leaders if they were informed of the illegal casino operations, allegedly run by top JL League leaders, prior to the security forces' raids.
Speaking to the media on Wednesday (Sept 18) at the ruling party youth wing's central office in Dhaka, Chowdhury said that a larger conspiracy is underway to tarnish Awami League's image.
The JL leader said, "Law enforcement agencies should have gone after the 60-odd casinos said to be operating in Dhaka long ago."
The law enforcement should be questioned why they did not take any action in this regard before.
"If the intelligence branches and media knew about the casinos all along, why wasn't this information made public earlier?" he asked.
In a major clampdown on gambling, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) raided an illegal casino in Dhaka’s Fakirapool area, arresting Jubo League's Dhaka (South) city unit Organizing Secretary Khalid Mahmud Bhuiyan from his Gulshan 2 residence, for running it.
There were two other casino raids in Dhaka on Wednesday, one right next to the Fakirapool Youngmen's Club, called the Wanderers Club and another in Banani.
The development came just five days after Prime Minister and Awami League President Sheikh Hasina vented her anger on some Jubo League leaders at the party’s central working committee meeting.