Borders under watch to catch Bangla Bhai

Law enforcement agencies beefed up vigilance along the border with India in Rajshahi, Chapainawabganj and Naogaon districts, and denied reports that Bangla Bhai has slipped into India.

Meanwhile cadres of Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB) are still roaming about freely, allegedly with cooperation from police in Rajshahi and Naogaon, despite the government ban on JMJB as of February 24, local inhabitants said.

Police sources insist that Bangla Bhai will not elude their grip. "We have no reports on the whereabouts of Bangla Bhai for the last seven months. Our five teams, including a special force, are out in the field tracing him. Bangla can't cross undetected through police vigilance in the Rajshahi division," additional DIG Aminul Islam said.

He added that police are using their best tools to arrest the militant leader and that vigilance along the bordering districts has been tightened following reports of his plan to slip into India.

"Crossing the border for Bangla Bhai is not a joke. But he can do it through comparatively flexible borders like Godagari and Shapahar, where the Islamist extremists might have some base. Yet, there will be local smugglers who will challenge anyone unknown to their own business," explained a top-level source from the Bangladesh Rifles.

Several officers-in charge (OC) and sub inspectors of various police stations in Rajshahi and Naogaon have been facing pressure not to touch JMJB cadres, who have, along with Bangla Bhai, openly murdered and tortured several people since April of last year, said competent sources.

Masud Mia, the Rajshahi Superintendent of police who was ordered to be transferred to Dhaka CID on Saturday, allegedly threatened several OCs against arresting JMJB cadres or helping journalists to write reports, a senior police official said, quoting verbal complaints by some OCs.