Couldn't root out militancy, but destroyed its network

Inspector General of Police (IGP) AKM Shahidul Hoque believes militants will not be able to carry out attacks as their strength has been reduced through continued police operations since the Holey Artisan attack.

He admitted that militancy wasn't uprooted altogether, and stressed that its network was destroyed.

Most of the senior militant leaders were either killed or captured in police raids, he said talking to reporters at police headquarters yesterday.

Police have been successful in countering militancy because people of the country including Islamic scholars support the efforts, he said.

The police chief, however, observed that the entire nation should come forward to completely eradicate the evils of militancy from society.

Asked why most of the busted militant dens were in the northern districts of the country, he said the top leaders of banned militant outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) Siddikul Islam Bangla Bhai and Shaykh Abdur Rahman once had a stronghold and a large number of supporters there.

“Since the old JMB had a stronghold in the region, the Neo-JMB activities are also seen there,” he said.

He also claimed that police were working on creating mass awareness to prevent young people from joining militancy after coming across misinterpretations of Islam on social media.

He also dismissed the likelihood of any attack carried out by absconding militant suspects including the "Neo-JMB" leader Ayub Bacchu and several others accused in the case filed over the Holey Artisan Attack.

“We do not think the militants have the strength. Those who are on the run will be captured, no matter how big a leader they are,” he stressed, “We are expecting the top absconding Neo JMB leader to be arrested soon.”