The Security Service Division of the home ministry has asked the attorney general and the secretary of the law ministry to ensure quick completion of the trials of prisoners who face charges of militancy and anti-state activities. The Security Service Division wrote to the AG and the secretary recently, sources in the home ministry have confirmed.
At present, 912 prisoners lodged in different jails of the country face charges of militancy and anti-state activities or have been convicted. Of them, 199 prisoners are awaiting the death penalty, 187 are facing the life term or other terms, 385 are under trial and the remaining 141 prisoners are under investigation, the sources added.
Home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal confirmed to The Independent that they have asked the AG and the secretary of the law ministry to have the trials of the militant leaders and the top terrorists completed.
“The militants and top terrorists, even if they are in jail, are a threat to the country. We're closely monitoring the matter to complete their trials,” he said.
AG Mahbubey Alam told this correspondent that they are trying to complete the trials of all the suspected militants and top terrorists on a priority basis after getting the instruction from the home ministry.
“We have already completed the process of Harkat-ul-Jihad (Huji) chief Mufti Abdul Hannan’s case, and the jail authorities have executed his death sentence,” he said.
On 13 April, Hannan and two of his fellow militants, Sharif Shahedul alias Bipul and Delwar Hossain Ripon, were executed for carrying out a deadly grenade attack in Sylhet in 2004.
The militants who are lodged in different jails belong to different militant organisations such as Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), Hizb-ut-Tahrir, Jamaatul Mujahideen of Bangladesh (JMB), New JMB, Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB), Huji, and Shahadat-e-Al Hikma.
The government has already banned six militant organisations—Hizb-ut-Tahrir, JMB and its offshoot JMJB, Huji, Shahadat-e-Al Hikma, and Ansarullah Bangla Team. Sources, however, said several militant outfits are active in the country.  These are Zadid Al Qaida, Hijbut Tahrir, Allar Dal, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Warat Islamic Front, Hijbeh Abu Omor, JMB, Huji, Jaamatul Falaiya, Bishwa Islamic Front, Shahadat-e-Nobuyot, Al Zihad of Bangladesh, Jamayat Assadat, Horkat-e-Islam Al Zihad, Muslim Millat Sharifa Council, World Islamic Front for Jihad, Hizbul Masadi, Islamic Dawati Kafela, Al Islam Marhutas Brigade, and the Dawate Islam, among others.