The interim government decided to prepare a list of extortionists across the country and launch a nationwide coordinated drive comprising five state agencies to combat extortion ahead of the upcoming general elections.
The drive will also be addressed to other crimes, including mugging and robbery, and to strengthen surveillance and security to prevent any deterioration of the law and order ahead of the elections.
The decisions were taken at the 14th meeting of the Law and Order Advisory Council on September 21 with home adviser retired Lieutenant General Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury in the chair.
The Home Ministry on Thursday sent the meeting minutes to the related offices, including that of the cabinet secretary, related ministries, police headquarters, all police commissioners, divisional commissioners, deputy commissioners, and superintendents of police.
After the meeting, adviser Jahangir Alam Chowdhury said, 鈥榃e discussed conducting nationwide drives by law enforcement agencies to curb mugging and extortion.鈥�
The discussions also covered security measures for Durga Puja and maintaining the law and order before the next general elections, he said.
According to a decision, a complete list of extortionists across the country will be prepared and they will be swiftly brought under the law to ensure exemplary punishment.
The five agencies that have been given the responsibilities of making the list and carrying out the drive are the Police, the National聽 Security Intelligence, the Rapid Action Battalion, the Special Branch of the police, and the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence.
Instructions will also be given to the law enforcement agencies to take strict legal actions against those accused of mugging, robbery, and extortion.
In ensuring election security, it was decided, all relevant agencies must work in coordination to develop a clear action plan to hold a free, fair, and impartial election.
Any individual or group attempting to create any unrest must be identified and brought under the law and strict actions must be taken against them.
In the field, deputy commissioners, police supers, upazila nirbahi officers, and police station officers-in-charge must carry out their duties impartially to ensure a smooth election, the meeting stressed.
It also decided that CCTV cameras will be installed at all vulnerable polling stations while effective monitoring systems must be put in place to ensure safety and security.
The meeting also decided that those who had held responsibilities in the 2014, 2018, and 2024 parliamentary elections should, as far as possible, not be assigned duties in the next national elections.
Social media surveillance will be stepped up to counter disinformation and hate campaigns targeting law enforcement or election officials.
During both the pre-election and election periods, all agencies must work together impartially to manage situations effectively, it also decided.
Ansar and VDP personnel, the meeting decided, will be deployed for nine days at the Puja venues From September 24 to October 2.
Vulnerable temples and mandaps will have round-the-clock security, with volunteers assigned for monitoring in coordination with local administrations, while the Armed Forces, police, BGB, RAB and Coast Guard will conduct visible patrols nationwide.
Committees involving local communities will be formed to safeguard communal harmony while strict action will be taken against rumour-mongers spreading sectarian unrest online.
The law and order meeting also decided to take necessary measures to ensure that individuals involved with banned organisations or parties and pro-fascist activities do not get bail in courts.
By reviewing the cases of such individuals, a four-member committee with the joint secretary (Political-2) as its convener must be assigned to carry out its activities in this regard properly.
Constant vigilance must be maintained against the masterminds of banned organisations or parties and fascist activities, and intelligence surveillance must be intensified.
The cases filed in connection with the Students Against Discrimination movement during the 2024 July mass uprising must be properly reviewed. Special attention must be paid to ensure that no one is harassed because of any false cases.
The meeting also decided that the security of the families of the martyrs and the injured in the July movement must be ensured, as threats, intimidation, and even
death threats were being issued to members of such families through social media.
Vigilance must be maintained to ensure that no untoward situation arises over the Rajshahi University Central Students鈥� Union and hall union elections.
The meeting also ordered intensified drives against narcotics, particularly ketamine and Yaba pills entering through the Bangladesh-Myanmar border.
Surveillance will be heightened at Teknaf and along the coastal areas to prevent smuggling of drugs and other contraband materials, while a decision was also taken for recovering illegal firearms.
The meeting also decided that other strong measures would be taken in the garment and industrial sectors to prevent labour unrest and ensure timely payment of worker wages as well as enhanced vigilance in the Chittagong Hill Tracts to stop extortion and insurgency.
