37 militants among 3,192 arrested on first day of anti-terror crackdown: Police

Police have arrested 3,192 persons, including 37 militants, in the first 24 hours of its nationwide anti-terror crackdown.

Of them, 1,861 were held following the issue of arrest warrants by court, police said in a media release on Saturday.
  
The arrested militants include 27 members of the Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and seven of the Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB), the release said.
 
Police suspect the three others from ‘other’ militant outfits belong to the Ansarullah Bangla Team. They were arrested in Dhaka City. 
 
All three organisations are banned in Bangladesh.
 
The other suspected militants were arrested in Bogra, Rajshahi, Chanpainawabganj, Dinajpur, Kurhigram, Gazipur, Mymensingh, Sherpur, Sirajganj, Narail, and Gaibandha. 
 
The decision to crack down on militants was taken on Thursday, five days after the murder of decorated SP Babul Aktar’s wife Mahmuda Aktar Mitu in Chittagong.
 
Mahmuda’s murder was strikingly similar to the attacks carried out by suspected Islamist militants on secular writers, bloggers, online activists and people of different religious views.
 
bdnews24.com correspondents from across Bangladesh reported that over 1,000 persons have been held on the first day of the crackdown.
 
The police media release said, besides suspected militants, those arrested included 917 people accused in cases over arms, narcotics and other issues.
 
A gun, 500 gm of gunpowder, 15 crude bombs, 21 Jihadi books, 15 diaries, and 757 motorcycles were seized during the operations.