RAB chief claims they know who are funding, backing militancy in Bangladesh

RAB Director General Benazir Ahmed has claimed that they have found out who are funding and backing militants behind the scenes in Bangladesh.

But he declines to take names and has sounded warning.

“We know who the players are. This small group is playing with monsters in their own interest. And they will be obliterated by these monsters.”

Benazir made the remarks at a meeting organised by the home ministry with top officials of the private universities at Dhaka's Krishibid Institution on Sunday in the wake of the findings that educated youths are engaging in militancy.

Following a rising wave of murders by suspected militants throughout Bangladesh in the past one and a half years, on the night of July 1, five gunmen barged into the Holey Artisan Bakery and O’ Kitchen restaurant at Gulshan-2.

They took over 30 people hostage and killed 20 of them through the night. The attackers were killed in a commando operation the next morning.

Six days later, on the morning of Eid-ul-Fitr, a police check-post near the Sholakia Eidgah ground in Kishoreganj came under attack. Two policemen were killed in the attack while one of the attackers was shot dead by security forces.

All six attackers had run away from home and been missing for several months. Four of them were students of top private universities.

After the terror attacks, police released a list of 10 youths who have been missing for a long time as well and are suspected to have joined militant groups.

Later, the home ministry called the meeting with the authorities of the private universities following investigation reports that young students are showing a tendency to run away and join militant groups.

Top officials of the law-enforcing agencies also attended Sunday’s meeting.

“No-one will be successful by doing such things (launching terror attacks) here in Bangladesh. We have defeated them before, and we’ll defeat them again,” said Benazir.
  
The RAB chief stressed that the people need to unite to fight off the terrorists and militants. 

He urged the youths to stay away from militancy while referring to the outcome for the attackers who had gone off course and were killed by security forces.
 
“Their bodies are abandoned. No-one was found to say the funeral prayers (for the dead attacker) in Kishoreganj.”
 
He urged those who have taken the wrong path to come back. “The state and society will do everything legally for your rehabilitation.”
 
The RAB chief asked all educational institutions to take initiatives to remove misleading ideas from the minds of their students. “We’ll help any way we can.”
 
At Sunday’s meeting, police’s counter-terrorism unit chief Monirul Islam said terrorism centring religion started in Bangladesh in 1992. It spread between 2001 and 2006.
 
A vested quarter reignited the terrorism activities against the secular Ganajagaran Mancha when it came into being in 2013 to press for maximum punishment to all 1971 war criminals.