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| Bangladesh |
| Govt moves to clamp down on outlaws |
| 2009-08-19 |
| [Bangla Daily Star] Top bosses of different law enforcement agencies are set to hold a meeting with the police officials of 10 southwestern districts in Kushtia tomorrow amidst an alarming resurgence of so-called outlawed gangs. Inspector General of Police and Director General of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) are scheduled to reach Kushtia tomorrow while the superintendents of police (SPs) of these districts have been asked to be present also. The districts are Kushtia, Meherpur, Chuadanga, Jhenidah, Magura, Jessore, Narail, Khulna, Satkhira and Bagerhat since January this year. At least 228 people were killed in these districts since January this year. Khulna Range Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police Sheikh Hemayat Hossain confirmed about the schedule but declined to disclose any details of the meeting's agenda to the press. At least five out of 12 outlawed parties have backed to crime spree after further regrouping under the command of 20 kingpins in southwestern region in recent months, the DIG said. "We've put in our best efforts to root out activities of these parties but it is not possible to do so overnight as this menace is there for about 40 years." A special operation of police to nab all the listed criminals is on track, he said. Sources close to the outlawed party men and law enforcement agencies pointed fingers at a group of political leaders who allegedly give patronage to the outlawed cadres to get 'benefits' by using their strength. With the number of killings on the rise, the law and order situation in 10 southwestern districts is getting deteriorated--Kushtia being the worst victim, sources said. According to police records and press reports, at least 228 persons were killed in the region in last seven and a half months. Of them, around 150 were killed, some of them brutally, by the outlawed party cadres. In most of the cases, different factions of the outlawed parties almost immediately claimed responsibility for such killings. Tenders of construction work, establishing control over bus and ferry terminals, roads and bazars and extracting illegal tolls are said to be the reasons behind most of these killings. The five outfits that become criminally active in recent months are Purbo Banglar Communist Party (PBCP-ML), its two factions Janajuddho and Lal Pataka, Gono Bahini and Gono Mukti Fouz. Kushtia tops the list of killings with 63 murders followed by 46 in Jhenidah, 41 in Jessore, 28 in Khulna, 16 in Chuadanga, 10 in Meherpur, eight in Satkhira, seven in Bagerhat, five in Narail and four in Magura. Rival party men killed at least 52 outlaws during the period. The deaths included 15 businessmen who had refused to pay tolls. Those killed also included at least 17 local politicians--four belonging to ruling Awami League, eight to BNP and rest to other smaller parties. The latest killing took place Saturday night when criminals sprayed bullets on several ruling Awami League leaders and activists in Bheramara upazila. College teacher Banda Fattah Mohon, also an activist of AL, was killed in the incident and several others including Bheramara upazila AL joint-secretary Meherul Alam were inured. Besides, six severed heads, all claimed to have fallen prey to outlaws, were found in Kushtia over the last two weeks sending a chill in the region. Earlier, several special drives were conducted in the southwestern region to nab the outlaws but there has been no let up of their activities. At least 10 special drives including Operation Clean Heart, Operation Spider Web were launched in last several years. Incidents of 'crossfire' also could not tame the outlaws in the long run. According to data of police records and newspapers reports, a total of 566 crossfire deaths took place in the region since June 2004. |
| Posted by:Fred |