Police 'find vital leads'
Investigators claim they are on the verge of identifying the killers of Italian aid worker Cesare Tavella, as they have identified the man who posted a tweet claiming responsibility for the murder.
"We have already got some vital leads. Now we are looking into some other links related to the murder and expecting to detect the killers soon," a senior police official, who is supervising the murder probe, said yesterday. He wished anonymity.
The remarks came just a day after Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal told this paper that he would come up with some revelations about the murder in "three to four days".
The same day, an ICT Division official, who is assisting the investigation, said a tweet over the killing of one of the two foreigners was posted from the Gulshan corporate office of a garment manufacturer and they have detected the Internet Service Provider (ISP) address.
Meanwhile, Tavella's body, which has been kept at the mortuary of Dhaka Medical College since he was killed September 28, is likely to be sent to Italy today.
A delegation of the Italian Embassy in Bangladesh would receive the body and send it home, police sources said.
Tavella was gunned down by unidentified assailants in Gulshan diplomatic zone on September 28. Five days later, a second foreigner, this time a Japanese national named Hoshio Koneo, was shot dead in a similar fashion in Rangpur.
In another development, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) commissioner has instructed all officers-in-charge of the city's 49 police stations to ensure security of clubs, workplaces, schools, offices and other places frequented by foreigners.
During a monthly crime conference of the DMP yesterday, Asaduzzaman Mia also asked the OCs to collect detailed information about the foreigners living in the city. However, he later retreated from it as some police officers said foreigners usually do not want to disclose their personal information to police.
'BOOST MONITORING ON MADRASAS'
The DMP commissioner instructed the field-level officers to mount watch on city madrasas and keep in touch with teachers, students and other staffs of these institutions, according to a senior police official who attended yesterday's meeting.
Madrasas are believed to be a key breeding ground for extremist and militant operatives in the country, said the DMP deputy commissioner, preferring anonymity.
"The instruction was given as there has been a laxity in monitoring the madrasas for a long time.
"It doesn't mean that all students and teachers of all madrasas are patronising extremism. But we will keep contacts with the madrasas to gather intelligence on suspects," he said.
The directive came following recent arrests of some JMB operatives and the Islamic State's reported claim that it was responsible for the two foreigners' murders.
Commissioner Asaduzzaman also instructed his officers to keep an eye on the printing presses so that no one could print any anti-state or pro-extremism posters and leaflets, and to arrest those who were accused in cases for arson attacks and other subversive activities, said another meeting source.
On security measures for the Durga Puja, the DMP boss asked police officials to ensure a security blanket in and around every Puja mandap with the help of locals.
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