Under international pressure, Dhaka arrests Al-Qaeda-linked jihadist Bikrompuri |
After more than a year of escalating militant activity, deteriorating law and order, and growing international concern, Bangladesh’s interim administration under Muhammad Yunus appears to be signaling a belated shift in its security posture. The arrest of Ataur Rahman Bikrampuri, an alleged Al-Qaeda-linked militant ideologue and radical preacher-marks what officials describe as a renewed effort to curb extremism. Critics, however, question whether the move reflects genuine resolve or merely a tactical response to intense external pressure, particularly from India.
The Detective Branch (DB) of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police arrested Ataur Rahman Bikrampuri in Narsingdi on the night of December 23 following a requisition from the Gazipur Metropolitan Police (GMP). He was subsequently handed over to Tongi East Police Station and transferred to Kashimpur Central Jail on December 24 after completion of legal formalities. The arrest comes after months of public incitement against India and Bangladesh’s minority Hindu community, raising serious questions about why decisive action was delayed for so long.
Since the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government on August 5 last year, Bangladesh has experienced what security analysts describe as its worst internal security crisis in over a decade. The transition of power-widely characterized by critics as the result of a carefully orchestrated political coup-was followed by mass prison escapes involving convicted militants from banned organizations, including Hizbut Tahrir and Ansar al Islam.
During this period, multiple police installations were attacked, and hundreds of firearms were looted. A significant portion of those weapons remain unrecovered to this day. At the same time, numerous individuals convicted or accused of militant activity were........