Hundreds held in Bangladesh crackdown on crime, terror

The Bangladeshi army yesterday rounded up hundreds of suspects after it was deployed to crack down on rampant crime, officials said.

Among those detained were criminals and political activists of both the ruling and opposition parties. One person was shot dead in northern Bogra district.

The arrested included at least five commissioners of city corporations in Dhaka and Sylhet. However, there was no official figure on those arrested, and government leaders were tight-lipped about the sudden drive.

A minister who did not want to be identified said the drive would continue until the law and order situation improves. Police said the arrested were wanted in connection with terrorist acts, killings, riots and political violence.

The army deployment is seen as a desperate move by the year-old coalition government of Prime Minister Khaleda Zia to crush those engaged in killing, extortion, kidnap and other anti-social activities.

Immediately after assuming power in October last year, Khaleda declared war against terrorism and corruption.

As the situation deteriorated with four elected ward commissioners of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) shot dead in Dhaka recently and the throwing of a grenade at an MP of the ruling BNP in southern Jhenidah district Tuesday night, the government was placed in an awkward situation.

Witnesses said troops were posted at strategic points in Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna, Rajshahi, Barisal and other cities.

In Dhaka, nearly 100 people were arrested, most of them political activists, including two city corporation commissioners.

The army cracked down on political activists in Chittagong, rounding up about 80 people suspected of having links with terrorism.

The arrested, mostly belonging to the opposition Awami League and the ruling BNP, were in army custody. Police were kept away from the overnight operation.

In Khulna, former whip of parliament, S.M. Mostafa Rashidi Suja, was among those arrested. In Rajshahi, the army raided dormitories of Rajshahi University and arrested five students.

A report from northern Bogra town said BNP supporters put up road barricades on the highway to protest the arrest of four local leaders of the ruling party.

Earlier, the government launched combined operations of police and paramilitary but failed to improve the situation.