5,314 held as crackdown continues

Police detained a total of 2,132 people, including 48 suspected militants, yesterday from different parts of the country as part of their week-long special crackdown on militants. With this, the total number of detainees rose to 5,314, including 85 members of different militant outfits. Among those who were arrested yesterday, 47 are members of the banned militant outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and one belongs to Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT). The remaining 2,084 are mostly accused and wanted in criminal cases, according to a press release issued by the police headquarters yesterday. There were arrest warrants against 1,496 of these detainees. Besides, 156 are accused in regular cases, 41 in illegal firearms-related cases and 391 in various cases. Police also recovered two shooter-guns, one bullet, 500 grams of gunpowder, 17 crude bombs, two rifle cartridges, nine machetes, numerous jihadi books and 681 motorbikes from the detainees, the press release said. At least 50 people have so far been killed in 48 recent incidents committed by different militant groups across the country. Against the backdrop of frequent targeted killings, especially the gruesome murder of Mahmuda Khanam Mitu, wife of SP Babul Akter, in Chittagong, the police headquarters at a meeting on Thursday gave the green signal to launch the hunt. Senior police officials were present in the meeting, with inspector general of police (IGP) AKM Shahidul Hoque in the chair. On Saturday, the BNP alleged that the government has allowed the police to indulge in the “business of arrests” to collect their “Eid tips” under the pretext of a crackdown on militants. At a briefing at the BNP’s central office, BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi also alleged that after having failed to track down militant suspects, the law enforcers are mainly arresting common people and Opposition activists during the drive. Bangladesh Bar Council vice-chairman advocate Abdul Baset Majumder said the law enforcers should follow the guidelines of the apex court in arresting any person. The government can carry out a combing operation to eradicate militancy from the country, but the police should be more careful during the special detention drive so as not to hurt innocent people, he added.

5,314 held as crackdown continues

Police detained a total of 2,132 people, including 48 suspected militants, yesterday from different parts of the country as part of their week-long special crackdown on militants. With this, the total number of detainees rose to 5,314, including 85 members of different militant outfits. Among those who were arrested yesterday, 47 are members of the banned militant outfit Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and one belongs to Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT). The remaining 2,084 are mostly accused and wanted in criminal cases, according to a press release issued by the police headquarters yesterday. There were arrest warrants against 1,496 of these detainees. Besides, 156 are accused in regular cases, 41 in illegal firearms-related cases and 391 in various cases. Police also recovered two shooter-guns, one bullet, 500 grams of gunpowder, 17 crude bombs, two rifle cartridges, nine machetes, numerous jihadi books and 681 motorbikes from the detainees, the press release said. At least 50 people have so far been killed in 48 recent incidents committed by different militant groups across the country. Against the backdrop of frequent targeted killings, especially the gruesome murder of Mahmuda Khanam Mitu, wife of SP Babul Akter, in Chittagong, the police headquarters at a meeting on Thursday gave the green signal to launch the hunt. Senior police officials were present in the meeting, with inspector general of police (IGP) AKM Shahidul Hoque in the chair. On Saturday, the BNP alleged that the government has allowed the police to indulge in the business of arrests to collect their Eid tips under the pretext of a crackdown on militants. At a briefing at the BNPs central office, BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi also alleged that after having failed to track down militant suspects, the law enforcers are mainly arresting common people and Opposition activists during the drive. Bangladesh Bar Council vice-chairman advocate Abdul Baset Majumder said the law enforcers should follow the guidelines of the apex court in arresting any person. The government can carry out a combing operation to eradicate militancy from the country, but the police should be more careful during the special detention drive so as not to hurt innocent people, he added.