Joynal Abedin Khan :Law enforcement agencies detained more than 3192 people, including 37 militants, across the country in last 48 hours. On the first day of the crackdown, drive around 1,600 people were arrested across the country. Of them, 1861 were warranted accused, 917 normal, 358 drugs and 19 firearms accused, police sources said. The number of detainees cannot be called excess, because, on average 1,000 to 11,00 persons are detained every day, according to them.They also seized at least 757 motorcycles, a shot gun, one round of bullet, 500 grams of gunpowder, and several books and personal diaries during the countrywide special drive, they said. Of the militants, 27 men belong to militant outfit Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), seven others are from Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB) and the rest are of different groups, they saidPolice could not find any link of the arrested militants with the recent 46 radical attacks which claimed lives of over 48 people, Police Headquarters sources said. Since January last year, at least 48 people were killed in 46 militant attacks and 11 in the last two and a half months, detective sources said.In a query, a high official of police could not find the link of the accused with the recent target and militant killings. He said that police tried to control the law and order situation by conducting the special drive. Of those arrested in some districts in last two days, 239 were from Dhaka, 461 from Chittagong, 224 from Sylhet, 194 from Khulna, 262 from Rajshahi, 252 Rangpur, 139 from Comilla, 75 from Jhenaidah, 90 from Naogaon, 165 from Dinajpur, 92 from Tangail, 72 from Satkhira, 55 from Thakurgaon, 31from Mymensingh, 97 from Kushtia, 65 from Nazrail, 51 from Kishoreganj, 35 from Natore, 52 from Gaibandah, 26 from Panchagarh, 24 from Magura, 21 from Meherpur, 97 from Bogra, 59 from Nilphamari and 81 from Lakkhipur.”Government is continuing the arrest of mass people in the name of crackdown which is totally barrier to the expression of freedom,” said a press release signed by SM Zulfikar Ali Junu on behalf of the National Lawyers Council (NLC).It claimed that the police arrested the people after failing to tackle the target killing.It claimed the police also violated the order of the country’s Apex Court on the arrest issue. Earlier on May 24, the Bangladesh Supreme Court (SC) in a historic judgment upheld the High Court directives on arrest and remand of a man without any warrant under sections 54 and 167 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Meanwhile, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has questioned the crackdown, alleging it aimed to suppress anyone from Awami League’s rival political parties.He claimed that many innocent people, including farmers and day labourers, were arrested by law enforcers in the name of special drive to check the radical attacks. But the target killings continue in the country.BNP senior joint secretary general Rizvi Ahmed said that more than two hundred leaders and activists of the party were arrested countrywide during the crackdown.Workers Party Chief Rashed Khan Menon condemned the mass drive without definite allegation. “The government arrested the innocent people from their house and offices in the name of drive,” said, a press release signed by Hamidur Rahman Azad, Central Executive Member of Jamaat-e-Islami. He urged the government to stop the arrest drive to consider Ramzan.A K M Shahidur Rahman, Deputy Inspector General of Police Headquarters (Media and Planning) could not ascertain the number of arrested people.The government’s stance has been to say there is no direct link between the local militants and the global terrorists and that the political opposition is involved in the crimes.The joint drive follows the murder of SP Babul Akhter’s wife Mahmuda Akhter Mitu in Chittagong on June 5.
