Members of the army and police were deployed in front of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) headquarters in Dhaka on Saturday morning amid escalating tensions over ongoing protests by NBR officials.
Witnesses said security personnel were seen stationed on the NBR premises since morning, reports UNB.
“So far, we have learned from police that forces have been deployed as per the instruction of the home affairs adviser,” an NBR official told UNB.
“Today, the NBR chairman is scheduled to be here as government, semi-government, banks, schools and colleges are open per the directives of the government. To avoid an unpleasant situation the army and police forces have been deployed,” he said.
The NBR Reform Unity Council on Wednesday announced a series of fresh programmes, including continuous non-cooperation with the NBR chairman, to press home their demands.
As part of their scheduled programme, the officials of NBR were seen gathered in the building with placards.
A sit-in programme was staged at NBR and its respective offices in and outside Dhaka on Thursday, said a statement. But export and international passenger services will be exempted from this.
A complete strike will be observed in all offices of the Tax, Customs and VAT Department, except Customs House and LC Stations, on May 24 and May 25.
The strike will be observed from 9 am to 5 pm at Customs House and LC Stations on these two days. But, export and international passenger services will be exempted from the strike.
A complete strike will be observed in all the offices of the Tax, Customs and VAT Department, except International Passenger Services, from May 26.
The unity on Wednesday included a new demand with their old three ones, which is the immediate removal of NBR Chairman Md Abdur Rahman.
The longstanding demands are as follows: the issued ordinance should be immediately repealed; the recommendations of the NBR Reform Advisory Committee should be published on the website for public access; and after discussing and reviewing the draft proposed by the NBR along with the advisory committee's recommendations, appropriate and sustainable revenue system reforms should be implemented with the participation of all stakeholders, including aspiring organisations, business entities, civil society, and political leadership.
Meanwhile, the process of forming an ad hoc committee of the NBR Reform Unity Council, comprising officials and employees from all levels of the Customs, VAT and Tax Departments of the NBR, has almost been finalised.
Bd-pratidin English/FNC
