Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday promised to intensify a nationwide anti-terror clampdown, a day after a Hindu priest was hacked to death by ISIS jehadis in Bangladesh which has seen a series of brutal attacks by Islamists on minorities and secular activists.
“If they (militants) think they could turn Bangladesh upside down, they are wrong... They will be exposed to justice in the soil of Bangladesh and their patrons will also not be spared,” Hasina said in the parliament. She said the security forces would continue to track down the militants anywhere in the country and they would be exposed to justice even if it takes years or decades.
Hasina comments came after three operatives of the outlawed Jamaat ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) were killed in two predawn security raids early yesterday in Dhaka and north-western Rajshahi while another member of the outfit was killed overnight at Shibganj sub-disrict in north west Bogra.
“We raided the village in Shibganj after midnight yesterday on a secret tip... They (JMB men) opened fire and hurled bombs sensing our presence at the scene forcing us to retaliate when Jausar (slain militant) was killed,” said a police officer in Bogra. A senior police officer familiar with the crackdowns said two of the slain JMB operatives were being looked for attack on a Shia Mosque last year in Bogra and “one of them was killed early this morning in Shibganj while the other was killed yesterday in Dhaka’s Kalshi area.”