“We want to root out militancy from the country and hope that the special police unit will be able to do so successfully.” Headed by an additional inspector general of police, the proposed unit will carry out anti-militancy raids instead of the existing Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP). As per the plan, 581 posts would be initially created for the specialised unit.
These will include one post of deputy inspector general (DIG), two posts of additional DIG, five posts of superintendent of police (SP), 10 posts of additional SP, 12 posts of assistant police super, 75 posts of inspector, 125 posts of sub- inspector, and 140 posts of assistant sub-inspector.
Some special police units, such as police commandos, special weapons and tactics (SWAT), bomb disposal unit, and dog squad, would be put under the specialised unit.
The new unit will also have a research wing to conduct research on militancy and other heinous crimes. At present, the CTTC conducts anti-militant drives and tackles terror financing, cyber crimes and mobile banking-related crimes.
Different law-enforcing agencies have carried out anti-militancy drives in the wake of rise in militant attacks. Fifty-seven armed militants have been gunned down by the law enforcers in different operations across the country since the attack on Holey Artisan Bakery in capital’s Gulshan area on July 1 last year, which left 20 hostages — mostly foreign citizens – dead.
A total of 41 members of banned militant outfits Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and neo-JMB were also detained during this period.
“We have so far carried out 20 big anti-militant drives in different parts of the country after the Holey Artisan attack, in which 57 militants, mostly top leaders and operatives of the neo-JMB, were killed and 41 others were captured,” Assistant Inspector General of Police Moniruzzaman said on the eve of one year of the brutal incident.
He said 11 law enforcers were killed during anti-militant drives while over 50 cases have so far been lodged relating to the killings. Moniruzzaman also noted that 13 more militants were killed in a series of anti-militant drives before the Holey Artisan attack when over 200 others were arrested.
The police official claimed that extensive crackdowns on the militants after the attack on the Gulshan restaurant have broken the networks of the armed activists.
