Md Joynal Abedin Khan :
Frequent changes in style and strategy of the attacks by members of the different militant organizations, mainly neo-JMB, has become a new headache for law enforcers, experts said.
Such changes aim to make for militants the law enforcers fool and thus to obtain success in the assignments as set by their masterminds. Militancy has also reached a new height recently through the introduction of suicide vest attacks on people, mainly the cops, they said
The new-JMB members reorganized themselves after the Gulshan café attack that created panic about public security.
The experts said the law enforcing agencies also could not show any effective steps to check the killing by suicide vest attacks during their raids in Dhaka, Sylhet and Moulvibazar in recent months.
The misguided suicide attackers also issued threat to the law enforcing agencies, including Special Weapons And Tactics (SWAT) of Police for early actions against them in their hideouts as they believe that they would reach the Heaven just after their death.
There are allegations that police harassed the residents of the apartments where the militant dens are found.
Police also harassed the dwellers during raids while many of them lost their belongings and valuables, some alleged.
Even the dwellers felt helpless and faced massive sufferings to move here and there to lead daily
life during the raid in any building or block raid at any local area, according to them.
Recently, at least 19 people, including five women and five children, were killed in militant dens of Chittgong’s Sitakunda, Sylhet’s Shibbari and Moulvibazar’s Borohat and Nasirpur between March 15 and March 30. Of them, 16 died in suicide vest during the cops’ operations.
Earlier on November 14, 2005, the JMB cadre Iftekhar Hasan Al Mamun, 28, carried out a suicide bomb attack on the Jhalakathi court premises that killed Senior Assistant Judges Jagannath Pandey and Sohel Ahmed. Mamun also tried to detonate another bomb strapped to one of his thighs to kill him on way to hospital, but the cops foiled the attempt.
Meanwhile, a team of Rajshahi Metropolitan Police (RMP) on Monday night carried out a block raid on around one square kilometer area and cordoned off some houses in Court College area under Rajpara Police Station in the city suspecting the presence of militants’ said Assistant Commissioner of Police (Headquarters) Iftekharul Alam.
On March 24, Police cordoned off a five-storey house at Sylhet’s Shibbari for an anti-terror raid.
Sylhet’s Atai Mohal’s house owner Ustar Ali claimed that tenants lost huge money and valuables during the raid.
On March 14, police conducted block raid in Dhaka’s Panthapath area to curb militancy but they have failed to nab any single militant, DMP sources said.
After the Gulshan attack, they conducted block raid in eight crime divisions of the city, they said.
Mirza Selim, a victim of Panthapath raid, said police harassed him during the raid and threatened him to face legal action. Retired Brigadier General M. Sakhawat Hossain, a security expert, told the media that militants attacked on some general people in primary stage, then different religious people in second stage and now on noted people.”
“The neo-JMB members are a threat to public security. The militants reached a new stage through suicide vast attacks to operate their missions on people, mainly cops,” Hossain said.
Militancy analyst and human rights activist Md Nur Khan said the militants, now connected with family members, showed their wives and kids as protective umbrellas during any raid.
“Cops may face more trouble if the family based militant links continued and that will be a massive threat to all. It is a great concern if the militant carry out attacks targeting common people,” he opined.
Earlier, Inspector General of Police (IGP) AKM Shahidul Hoque claimed that law enforcers have no capacity to tackle target attacks and killings.
He denied harassing people during block raids and requested the citizens to help the law enforcers to conduct raid as per directions. Monirul Islam, Chief of the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit, said, “We think the women (who exploded the suicide vests) conducted planned attacks.” The CTTC chief said militants have lost their strong position but they are able to carry out operations as some masteminds are still on the run, he added.
He also claimed that they have no powerful arms like AK 22 rifles which were used in Gulshan café.
CTTC unit Deputy Commissioner Muhibul Islam Khan told reporters that the two female militants who surrendered with two babies to the police are in police custody.
Frequent changes in style and strategy of the attacks by members of the different militant organizations, mainly neo-JMB, has become a new headache for law enforcers, experts said.
Such changes aim to make for militants the law enforcers fool and thus to obtain success in the assignments as set by their masterminds. Militancy has also reached a new height recently through the introduction of suicide vest attacks on people, mainly the cops, they said
The new-JMB members reorganized themselves after the Gulshan café attack that created panic about public security.
The experts said the law enforcing agencies also could not show any effective steps to check the killing by suicide vest attacks during their raids in Dhaka, Sylhet and Moulvibazar in recent months.
The misguided suicide attackers also issued threat to the law enforcing agencies, including Special Weapons And Tactics (SWAT) of Police for early actions against them in their hideouts as they believe that they would reach the Heaven just after their death.
There are allegations that police harassed the residents of the apartments where the militant dens are found.
Police also harassed the dwellers during raids while many of them lost their belongings and valuables, some alleged.
Even the dwellers felt helpless and faced massive sufferings to move here and there to lead daily
life during the raid in any building or block raid at any local area, according to them.
Recently, at least 19 people, including five women and five children, were killed in militant dens of Chittgong’s Sitakunda, Sylhet’s Shibbari and Moulvibazar’s Borohat and Nasirpur between March 15 and March 30. Of them, 16 died in suicide vest during the cops’ operations.
Earlier on November 14, 2005, the JMB cadre Iftekhar Hasan Al Mamun, 28, carried out a suicide bomb attack on the Jhalakathi court premises that killed Senior Assistant Judges Jagannath Pandey and Sohel Ahmed. Mamun also tried to detonate another bomb strapped to one of his thighs to kill him on way to hospital, but the cops foiled the attempt.
Meanwhile, a team of Rajshahi Metropolitan Police (RMP) on Monday night carried out a block raid on around one square kilometer area and cordoned off some houses in Court College area under Rajpara Police Station in the city suspecting the presence of militants’ said Assistant Commissioner of Police (Headquarters) Iftekharul Alam.
On March 24, Police cordoned off a five-storey house at Sylhet’s Shibbari for an anti-terror raid.
Sylhet’s Atai Mohal’s house owner Ustar Ali claimed that tenants lost huge money and valuables during the raid.
On March 14, police conducted block raid in Dhaka’s Panthapath area to curb militancy but they have failed to nab any single militant, DMP sources said.
After the Gulshan attack, they conducted block raid in eight crime divisions of the city, they said.
Mirza Selim, a victim of Panthapath raid, said police harassed him during the raid and threatened him to face legal action. Retired Brigadier General M. Sakhawat Hossain, a security expert, told the media that militants attacked on some general people in primary stage, then different religious people in second stage and now on noted people.”
“The neo-JMB members are a threat to public security. The militants reached a new stage through suicide vast attacks to operate their missions on people, mainly cops,” Hossain said.
Militancy analyst and human rights activist Md Nur Khan said the militants, now connected with family members, showed their wives and kids as protective umbrellas during any raid.
“Cops may face more trouble if the family based militant links continued and that will be a massive threat to all. It is a great concern if the militant carry out attacks targeting common people,” he opined.
Earlier, Inspector General of Police (IGP) AKM Shahidul Hoque claimed that law enforcers have no capacity to tackle target attacks and killings.
He denied harassing people during block raids and requested the citizens to help the law enforcers to conduct raid as per directions. Monirul Islam, Chief of the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit, said, “We think the women (who exploded the suicide vests) conducted planned attacks.” The CTTC chief said militants have lost their strong position but they are able to carry out operations as some masteminds are still on the run, he added.
He also claimed that they have no powerful arms like AK 22 rifles which were used in Gulshan café.
CTTC unit Deputy Commissioner Muhibul Islam Khan told reporters that the two female militants who surrendered with two babies to the police are in police custody.
