United News of Bangladesh

Stressing the government’s ongoing efforts to recover illegal arms and improve the law-and-order situation, Home Affairs Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury on Monday said the nationwide special drive will continue until the national election. “Although we haven’t been able to recover all the arms that have gone missing, efforts are going on. This special drive is being carried out across the country and will continue until the election,” he told reporters after a meeting of the Law and Order Core Committee at the Secretariat. He said mob violence will come down to zero and no leniency will be shown in such cases. The election will be held under the current law enforcement agencies and it will be conducted smoothly, the adviser said. The Adviser emphasised that discussions at the meeting covered all aspects of national security, including recent incidents and potential future challenges. People-friendly policing key to restoring public trust: Home Affairs Adviser “We focus particularly on drug-related crimes, which have become a major issue. While many Yaba smugglers are being held, the big players are still at large. We are working to bring them under the law,” Alam Chowdhury said. Asked whether there was any security concern surrounding August 5, he replied, “You are better judges of how things were on August 5 after the Awami League had left office. Compare that with today. Whether there’s been any improvement is for you to assess.” Admitting that the law-and-order situation in Bangladesh has never matched international standards, he said they could not reach that level but prayed for the future government to do so. On public concerns over unrest, especially on August 5, Alam Chowdhury dismissed any fear, saying, “There’s no reason to panic. All programmes will be held peacefully, InshaAlah. We just need your cooperation in covering these events responsibly.” On election-related violence, he reaffirmed that the government is training forces and increasing deployment to maintain peace. 92 arrested, 216 looted arms recovered from Sept 4 to Sept 25: Police HQ In response to concerns about unequal police protection, the adviser said all parties receive security based on vulnerability assessments provided by agencies and media inputs.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) arrested 181 individuals involved in various crimes during a special operation in the capital in 24 hours till 11:59 pm on Tuesday. Among those arrested were 11 robbers, 33 professional hijackers, five extortionists, nine thieves, 31 drug dealers, 27 wanted criminals, and others involved in various illegal activities, said Talebur Rahman, Deputy Commissioner (Media) of DMP, in a media release on Wednesday. During the operation, authorities recovered three knives, one machete, five mobile phones, Tk 8,080 in cash, and several locally made weapons. Besides, law enforcement seized 4.93 kg of marijuana, 3,236 yaba tablets, and five bottles of foreign liquor. Banned BCL leader arrested for offensive remarks on Prophet (PBUH) A total of 78 cases were filed at different police stations under DMP within the 24-hour period. To ensure public safety, 667 patrol teams carried out duties in two shifts across 50 police stations in Dhaka. Of these, 340 teams operated at night, while 327 teams worked during the day. Moreover, 71 police checkpoints were set up at key locations throughout the metropolis to enhance security. In addition to the DMP’s patrol teams, 14 CTTC teams, 12 Anti-Terrorism Unit (ATU) teams, and 10 RAB teams collaborated with the DMP at various crime-prone areas. Member of teen gang held in Dhaka’s Pallabi Specialised police units such as the APBN also set up 20 additional checkpoints, contributing to the effort to maintain law and order. DMP remains committed to ensuring the security and smooth movement of the people of Dhaka Metropolitan City.

The government will launch a special combing operation  in 17 districts of the country from January 4  to remove illegal nets which cause harm to fishery resources. The drive will be conducted against all illegal nets including ‘Behundi nets’ (conical-shaped net) to protect fries of all marine fish including Hilsha,  said the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock on Thursday. The 17 districts where the drives will be conducted are Pirojpur, Jhalakathi, Patuakhali, Barguna, Bhola, Barishal, Noakhali, Bagerhat, Khulna, Satkhira, Cox’s Bazar, Chattogram, Munshiganj, Laxmipur, Shariatpur, Madaripur, and Chandpur. Read more: Six held for illegally netting fish in Sundarbans Seventeen monitoring teams comprising of officers and field officers of the Fisheries Department will work to conduct the operations in these districts. Also a control room will be opened to collect regular data about these drives. The ministry has urged people involved in fishing to avoid use of harmful, illegal nets like current net and behundi net. 

Members of the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) have launched a special drive to free the world’s largest mangrove forest, Sundarbans, from robbers – to ensure security of fishermen. A special team named “Elite Tigers” of the battalion launched the drive on Saturday noon through a long range patrolling in Sharankhola, Joymoni, Baroitala, Andarmanik, Mrigamari and others spots. The drive will continue while another team, “Bengal Tigers”, with trawlers is kept standby to response to emergency calls. Robbers abducted 11 fishermen from different areas of the Sundarbans between December 13 and 18. Read more: 11 kidnapped fishermen rescued in Sundarbans: Police Last Wednesday, police claimed that the robbers left the fishermen in the face of their drives. Some of the rescued fisherman, however, claimed that they were released after paying ransom to the abductors. Police denied this claim. Commandant Md Badruzzoha, of Rab-6, said they launched the special drive to bring the robbers, who recently kidnapped fishermen, under the law through identification. Read more: Killing tigers in the Sundarbans: Offenders get off scot-free for lack for evidence “We are determined to free the Sundarbans from the criminals at any cost,” Lt Col Mostak Ahmed, commandant of the Rab-6, said. The Rab officer further said that law enforcers will always stand by the fishermen to provide security.

Members of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) in a drive arrested a suspected robber along with a firearm at Matuail in Jatrabari  of the city on Friday night.