Staff Reporter :
Inspector General of Police (IGP) AKM Shahidul Hoque on Tuesday said that trial of one out of 37 cases filed in connection with militant-related attacks in the country since 2013 has been completed so far.
Of the 36 cases, charge sheets were framed in five cases and investigations are on in 31 cases, he said.
The police chief came up with the information in a press conference at Police Headquarters on Tuesday afternoon, arranged for briefing on the latest development and investigations in the cases filed in connection with the militant attacks in the country in last four years.
Talking about militant cases, he said: “From 2013 to till Monday (May 2) a total of 37 militant attacks and murders were reported in the country. We have detained 144 people in connection with the cases. Around 49 detainees have made confessional statements before the courts.”
Of the cases, 25 were filed following alleged attacks by banned militant outfit Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and eight filed in connection with the attacks by Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT). The rest four cases did not mention the name of any specific militant outfit, the IGP said.
Replying to a query about the rise of such crimes, the IGP said, “Incidents like these that take place abroad are inspiring local militants. But this does not mean that foreign militant groups are operating here.”
Replying to another query about the rise of such crimes, Shahidul said: “Incidents like these that take place abroad are inspiring local militants. But this does not mean that foreign militant groups are operating here.
“These claims are being made on the internet as a form of propaganda. We have not yet been able to tackle these online propagandists.”
In the lone case, a Dhaka court on December 31 in 2015 handed down death penalty to two persons and different jail terms to six others, including the chief of Ansarullah Bangla Team, for the killing of blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider in 2013.
Asked, the IGP denied existence of Islamic State or al-Qaeda in the country, saying the attacks were made by home-grown militants.
According to information provided by Police HQ, two militant incidents were reported in 2013, 25 in 2015 and nine in the first four months of 2016.
