Top police brass from 14 nations converge on Dhaka

Police department heads of 14 countries will attend the conference at Hotel Sonargaon in Dhaka on regional cooperation in curbing violent extremism and transnational crimes. The 14 nations are Afghanistan, Australia, Bhutan, Brunei, China, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. Representatives of organisations such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Facebook, the International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program, and Interpol Global Complex for Innovation will attend as well. The conference, organised jointly by Interpol and Bangladesh Police, will continue till March 14. Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal will inaugurate the programme at 10am as chief guest. According to a Bangladesh Police headquarters press release, Interpol Secretary General Jurgen Stock, the Home Ministry’s Secretary of the Public Security Division Dr Kamal Uddin Ahmed and Inspector General of Police (IGP) AKM Shahidul Haque will speak at the inauguration. Papers on “Resurgence of terrorism in Bangladesh” and “Deradicalisation of militants: an approach for disengagement and reintegration into society” will be presented on day one, the press release said. Earlier, the IGP told Dhaka Tribune that Bangladesh Police will discuss extradition treaties in bilateral talks with several countries. “If they are interested, we will propose signing agreements with them,” he said. A senior official said young people have been encouraged to join militants through social media. “We found several similar cases, and so will discuss this matter with Facebook in bilateral talks,” he said. “Not only that, we will also discuss the illegal Phensedyl factories with the Indian chief of police, as well as reviewing ways to stop the setting up of yaba factories near the Myanmar-Bangladesh border with the Myanmar police chief,” he added. Bangladesh police too will seek help from the Afghanistan police chief to ensure no militants come to Bangladesh from that country. Bangladesh will also hold bilateral talks with Malaysia, Sri-Lanka and Brunei on the sidelines of the conference.