The inspector general of Bangladesh Police, AKM Shahidul Hoque, yesterday said that USAID employee Xulhaz Mannan and his theatre activist friend, Mahbub Rabbi Tonoy, were killed by the banned Islamist outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT).  He said this while addressing a press conference at the police headquarters in the capital. According to Hoque, 37 people were killed in militant attacks between 2013 and 2016, with police being able to find out clues and identify the killers in 34 cases. He said the trial of one murder had been completed and charge-sheets were submitted in six cases, adding that law enforcers had arrested 144 people in connection these cases. He also said that 49 out of the 144 accused had confessed to their crimes. “It’s taking time as we would like to issue accurate charge-sheets,” he added. He claimed that Bangladesh is a role model in combating militancy.
When asked why police are not being able to get advance information about militant attacks, Hoque said the number of militant attacks in the country has remained insignificant because of the vast information network of the police. “Had there been no advance information, there would have been more deaths,” he added. About public safety and increasing life-risks of citizens, the senior police official said it is not possible to provide security to each and every house. He said police did not find any evidence that arrested persons were connected with international terrorist organisations like Islamic States.” Asked about the progress of the Kalabagan double murder case, Hoque said: “The case is under investigation. We suspect that ABT members had carried out the killings. We think that the killers were not trained abroad but learned their trade here.” RAB director general Benazir Ahmed, DIG (Media) AKM Shahidur Rahman and other senior police officials were present during the briefing.