Police trying their best to catch killers of two foreigners, Bangladesh police chief says

Police are trying ‘their best’ to arrest the murderers of two foreigners slain in a week, Inspector General of Police (IGP) AKM Shahidul Hoque has said.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 6 Oct 2015, 07:30 PM
Updated : 6 Oct 2015, 07:54 PM

At a quarterly meeting to review crimes at the Police Headquarters on Tuesday, he also hoped to bring the assailants to justice ‘soon’.

Italian charity worker Cesare Tavella was gunned down in Dhaka’s diplomatic zone Gulshan on Sep 28. Japanese farmer Kunio Hoshi was murdered in the same way in Rangpur after five days.

Police arrested two Hoshi murder suspects, including a local BNP leader; but could not yet make any arrest over the murder of Tavella.

Radical group Islamic State has reportedly claimed credit for both the murders.

A media statement said IGP Hoque told the meeting that ‘there may be someone in Bangladesh believing in IS personally’.

Echoing government leaders including Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, he ruled out the possibility of organisational presence of the radical group in the country.

“Police in Bangladesh showed success in tackling militancy, extremism, sabotages and crimes. We’ll have to maintain the success,” the statement said quoting the IGP.

“We cannot let the country become a militant country,” Hoque said, according to the statement.

“We’ll foil all conspiracies against our country. We’ll have to be alert against the rise of militancy in the name of JMB or HuJI,” Hoque added in the meeting, the statement said.

In another statement, police said the law enforcers have made huge security details for Durga Puja.

It said police had a meeting with the Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad and Dhaka Mohanagari Sarbojanin Puja Committee on security on Tuesday.

The IGP told the meeting that police would be alert to secure making of the idols, celebrations and immersion of the idols, the statement said. 

The celebrations will start on Oct 14. Around 28,000 pavilions are getting ready for veneration of Goddess Durga in Bangladesh.