Police need to share terror info directly
Inspector General of Police AKM Shahidul Hoque yesterday said police forces of different countries needed direct communications for sharing of real-time information on terrorists and quickly responding to terror strikes.
The diplomatic procedures are time-consuming and will come to no use in catching terrorists, he said on the second day of a regional security conference in a Dhaka hotel.
“The systems in conventional institutions are bureaucratic with a lot of red tapes. If we want to send a letter somewhere, we'll have to go to the foreign ministry and different other places. It would take more than six months to get a response.”
The police boss said depending on the diplomatic channels would not serve the purpose of tracking down terrorists. “Terrorist activities are taking place now. We'll have to catch the militants now. Communications have to take place now.”
The three-day “Chiefs of Police Conference on Regional Cooperation in Curbing Violent Extremism and Transnational Crime” was organised by Interpol and Bangladesh Police. Top police officials from 14 South Asian and neighbouring countries and representatives from Facebook, FBI, and other organisations are taking part in it.
Briefing reporters in the afternoon, the IGP said, “We want a police-to-police cooperation. We are a global police family. Terrorism is a global problem. It's not confined to a country. That's why we are seeking global assistance.”
He said he had asked Interpol Secretary General Jurgen Stock, who is participating in the conference, to open an Interpol branch in Dhaka.
“We have got positive gestures of the secretary general. He said he would be able to take a decision if we give them all kinds of support,” Shahidul added.
“But how much support can we give? An office, a building, furniture, equipment, and many other things will be needed. We will talk to the government and if we get the green signal, we will go ahead,” he concluded.
INTERPOL AND KILLERS OF BANGABANDHU
The police chief said, “We told the Interpol secretary general that our government gets disappointed when red alerts on the people convicted by our highest court are withdrawn. Interpol should respect our justice.”
He added that the Interpol official promised to sincerely bring up the issue in the Interpol meetings.
“At different times, we gave information on fugitive killers of Bangabandhu staying in other countries to Interpol. We told them that Dalim was in Spain. We couldn't pin point his whereabouts, though. We requested him to take it seriously when we give them information on the killers of Bangabandhu and he responded positively.”
The police chief also said they had handed over a list of Yaba factories in the Myanmar border to the country's representative to demolish those, help stop intrusion of smugglers and criminals, and they assured them of doing this.
Besides, the Sri Lankan police chief assured Bangladesh of cooperation in investigating the heist of Bangladesh Bank reserve, a portion of which was siphoned off to that country.
Presenting a paper titled “Militancy propaganda using social media and its effect in the society”, Assistant IGP Moniruzzaman said a survey conducted on 250 militants arrested in 2015-16 revealed that 82 percent of them used social media and their radicalisation was accelerated through the use of social media.
He added that 56 percent of the militants had English and Bangla medium educational backgrounds and 22 percent madrasa backgrounds; the remaining 22 percent did not have any educational background.
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