The home minister has said that the law enforcement agencies have found evidence that local militants were behind the 31 recent murders that took place across the country.
Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said yesterday that 25 of these cases had already been solved and the perpetrators arrested.
“Islami Chattra Shibir, Ansarullah Bangla Team, Jama’atul Mujaheedin Bangladesh, Ansar Al Islam and al-Qaeda Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) are all the same people, just using different names from time to time,” the minister said.
“These militants have been carrying out targeted killings to destabilise the country.”
The minister was speaking to journalists after a meeting with US Ambassador Marcia Bernicat at the Secretariat. The ambassador met with him to raise concerns over the recent murders.
Kamal claimed the militants were under control so far and Bangladesh was quite secure compared to other countries.
“We have arrested criminals in 25 cases including the Italian citizen Cesare Tavella and Japanese citizen Kunio Hoshi murder, the Shia mosque attack in Bogra and the Navy mosque attack in Chittagong,” he said.
The minister added that law enforcers had arrested all killers in the blogger murders, except for those of Avijit Roy’s.
“But the effort to arrest those criminals is also underway and our officials are doing there best to bring them to book,” he said.
An additional secretary of the Home Ministry will be assigned to coordinate different intelligence agencies investigating the murders, Kamal said.
About the prime minister’s sudden meeting with the heads of law enforcement agencies, the minister said the prime minister had ordered them to be vigilant about these targeted killings and run a thorough investigation.
The home minister added that the USA had offered to help arrange trainings for the police force to increase their efficiency.
Tuesday, March 25, 2025
