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GLOBAL ECONOMY
Published
Last Update June 12, 2016

Bangladesh detains 1,600 suspected radicals to end attacks

By | Associated Press
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    FILE- In this April 29, 2016 file photo, a Bangladeshi student holds a portrait of a University Professor A.F.M. Rezaul Karim Siddique during a protest against his killing in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Authorities have rounded up about 1,600 criminal suspects, including a few dozen believed to be Islamist radicals, in a nationwide crackdown aimed at halting a wave of brutal attacks on minorities and activists in Bangladesh, police said Saturday, June 11, 2016. (AP Photo, File) (The Associated Press)

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    FILE- In this June 10, 2016 file photo, Bangladeshi people surround the body of a Hindu holy man after assailants hacked him to death in Pabna, 275 kilometres (170 miles) from Dhaka, Bangladesh. Authorities have rounded up about 1,600 criminal suspects, including a few dozen believed to be Islamist radicals, in a nationwide crackdown aimed at halting a wave of brutal attacks on minorities and activists in Bangladesh, police said Saturday, June 11, 2016. (AP Photo, File) (The Associated Press)

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    FILE- This Feb. 20, 2016 file photo shows local residents watching a police raid on a building in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Authorities have rounded up about 1,600 criminal suspects, including a few dozen believed to be Islamist radicals, in a nationwide crackdown aimed at halting a wave of brutal attacks on minorities and activists in Bangladesh, police said Saturday, June 11, 2016. (AP Photo, File) (The Associated Press)

DHAKA, Bangladesh – Authorities have rounded up about 1,600 suspected petty criminals, including some believed to be Islamist radicals, in a nationwide crackdown aimed at halting a wave of brutal attacks on minorities and activists in Bangladesh.

Police spokesman Kamrul Islam said Saturday that officers and paramilitary soldiers had fanned out across the country Thursday night to raid suspected militant hideouts and detain about 1,600 people within 24 hours.

He said the detainees included only 37 alleged radical Islamist militants while most were suspected to be petty criminals.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had announced the planned anti-militancy campaign after the wife of a police superintendent was shot and stabbed to death June 5.

Meanwhile, SITE Intelligence Group says the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for killing a Hindu monastery worker Friday morning.