Ready to face any untoward situation: CTTC chief after Taliban's Afghanistan takeover

Taliban forces have taken control of Afghanistan's Kabul; the whole world is now observing the country's political situation. But the question is, how will all this affect Bangladesh, a country that is so intertwined with the region's issues?

In an interview with The Daily Star, Md Asaduzzaman, chief of Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit and additional commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, shares his views and steps to deal with the situation.

The Daily Star: Taliban has taken control over Afghanistan. How are you seeing this development as CTTC chief?

Asaduzzaman: There are some Taliban supporters in our country, and it's natural they're excited, as their supported group, whose ideology they follow, have won.

But we are vigilant about these supporters, who get inspiration from Taliban, so that they cannot find any scope of organising to carry out subversive activities.

DS: Some returnees from Afghanistan were responsible for the rise of militancy in Bangladesh. At present, how concerned should Bangladesh be, following recent developments?

Asaduzzaman: It's true that the first militant outfit of our country -- Harkat-ul-Jihad (Huji) -- was started in coordination with the returnees. Later, the outfit tried to conduct many subversive activities.

But due to police drives, the outfit was dismantled, and a number of their leaders were arrested. And you will find that all the outfit's activities were thwarted by police, and those responsible were held.

I can now say that the outfit formed by the returnees has vanished from the country.

We had witnessed the formation and rise of Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB). They were trained by the Pakistani militant outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Shaikh Abdur Rahman, the founder of JMB, had experience of interacting with Lashkar-e-Taiba, which also came up in his statement.

But their supporters in our country have nothing to be excited about, as we have adopted a zero-tolerance policy against militancy. We are not observing any problems regarding them.

We had dealt with them earlier, and if anything happens in the upcoming days, we have the capacity to face any untoward situations.

DS: Some youths were trying to go to Afghanistan from Bangladesh. Do you have any specific data on how many people actually went there?

Asaduzzaman: We have no exact information indicating that someone actually went there. But in many of their platforms, they have tried to invite and inspire people to go to Afghanistan.

We have arrested two militants recently, and their conversations involved going to Afghanistan.

We have so far received information that three went out of Bangladesh for militancy. But we are not sure whether they actually went to Afghanistan, though they were planning to visit the country.