Inspector General of Police (IGP) AKM Shahidul Hoque on Tuesday claimed that Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) is behind the Kalabagan double murder.Talking to reporters at a press briefing at the Police Headquarters over the progress in recent murders by militant outfits, he reiterated that the tactics employed in the murders are similar to those used by ABT though there has been no arrest.
The IGP said 37 such cases have occurred since 2013 and police filed chargesheets in six of the cases, while the remaining 31 are still under investigation.
In the blogger Rajib Haider murder case, he said, the court has announced its verdict sentencing two people to death and other accused to various jail terms.
The police boss further claimed that the motives behind 34 such murder cases have been uncovered, with 144 accused individuals arrested so far and 49 making their confessional statements.
He said although most of the militant outfits have been banned, only few are responsible for carrying out such murders.
Despite their sincerity to arrest the criminals, the police cannot act immediately in all the cases, Shahidul said adding that there had been arrests in many cases with investigations going on at a rapid pace.
“We can claim that compared to other countries, our police has played an effective role in cracking down on militants more swiftly, with 90 percent such murder incidents unraveled and accused people arrested,” he said.
About the recent murder of Rajshahi University professor Rezaul Karim Siddiquee, he said although there has been no arrest so far the killers have been identified.
Asked about the probable presence of Islamic State (IS) or Al-Qaeda (AQ) in Bangladesh, the IG turned it down again saying that no one of the arrested has given any clue or background during their interrogations, which would link them to global militant outfits, as there is no proof of their existence in the country.
Shahidul said those committing the crimes are purely homegrown criminals.
