Dhaka, July 13: Bangladesh plans to set up a highly-trained special force to combat terrorism in the country amid growing concern over surge in radical Islamist groups in country.
The police headquarters has sent a proposal to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) for setting up of a 3,125-member National Police Bureau of Counter Terrorism to combat militancy and terrorism.
The plan was sent to the PMO through the Home Ministry yesterday for the final approval of the prime minister, sources said.
“We have drafted the proposal after extensively examining the formation and activities of counter-terrorism organisations of different countries,” Hasanul Haider, assistant inspector general (AIG) of Bangladesh Police, was quoted as saying by The Daily Star newspaper today.
According to sources, the special force will include experts in information technology (IT), modern banking and cyber crime to combat terrorism, including cyber-based attack and high-tech crimes.
Police sources said a plan has been prepared to recruit 32,031 personnel in the next three years in line with the government’s decision to set up the special unit.
Intelligence agencies here last month warned that militants of the banned Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) have started to regroup amid growing concern over surge in radical Islamist groups in Bangladesh.
JMB, one of several outlawed Islamist groups seeking to turn majority Muslim Bangladesh into a sharia-based Islamic state, was blamed for a series of deadly bombings in late 2005. At least 30 people were killed and some 150 others were wounded in those attacks.
Another outlawed group Harkatul Jihad Islami (HUJI) Bangladesh was blamed for attempting to kill former British High Commissioner Anwar Choudhury at a Muslim shrine in northeastern Sylhet town in May 2005.
Earlier in August, 2004, HUJI in a grenade attack killed 23 people and wounded some 150 others in Dhaka at a rally attended by then opposition leader Sheikh Hasina.
In June authorities beefed up security for judges and courts, particularly the apex court after threats by Islamist militants, want to establish “divine laws” replacing the “man made ones” in the country.
JMB has suffered setback with anti-militant security clampdown in the past several years. It has resulted in the execution of its six kingpins, including the outfit’s founder Shaikh Abdur Rahman and his second in command Siddikul Islam Bangla Bhai in 2007.
Security officials recently said they recounted the number of extremist rightwing or militant organizations to be over 33, a month after the Home Ministry made public a list saying 12 such outfits were currently active in the country.
Awami League leader Hasina, who assumed office as Prime Minister in January after a landslide election win on December 29, 2008, has floated the idea of a regional terror mechanism to combat the menace in South Asia.
-Agencies