1,700 Detained in Drive Against Radical Islamists in Bangladesh

The drive was launched a day after PM Sheikh Hasina promised to intensify the anti-terror security clampdown.

A file photo of Bangladeshi police officers standing guard in Dhaka’s Central Jail. (Photo: AP)

• Bangladesh police have detained over 1,700 people, including some members of an outlawed militant outfit, as part of a crackdown to halt the wave of brutal attacks on minorities and secular activists by Islamists.
  
  
• Of the total 140 people who were detained On Saturday, 88 are from Rajshahi district, 35 from Satkhira and 17 from Natore. Nine enlisted militants were among the 88 persons detained from Rajshahi.
  
  
• The drive was launched a day after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina promised to intensify a nationwide anti-terror security clampdown.