A ploy to get funding: CID chief

The May 26 bomb attack on a police van in Malibagh was carried out to attract donors’ attention to raise funds and grow fear among law enforcers, chief of Criminal Investigation Department (CID) said yesterday.

“If those involved in militancy fail to demonstrate their activities, their funding from abroad will stop. In Bangladesh, they did not get any media attention for a long time,” said CID chief Mohammad Shafiqul Islam at a media briefing at its headquarters.

Replying to a query, Shafiqul, also the additional inspector general of police, said, “They [militants] are now trying to attract donors’ attention by doing these types of activities.”

On May 26, a female assistant sub-inspector and two others were wounded after an Improvised Explosive Device blasted off in a police pickup. In a similar explosion in Gulistan on April 29, two traffic constables and a community police member were injured.

Hours after the explosions, SITE Intelligence Group, an American company that tracks online activities of white supremacist and jihadist organisations, said the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Asked if militants were involved in the blasts, DMP Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia on Tuesday said, “This cannot be said right now… we have to consider both local and international aspects during the investigation.”