Those who were complacent with the thought that they have successfully combated militancy and with the death of Bangla Bhai and Shaikh Abdur Rahman militant outfits were abolished from this delta, they have by now apprehended that still there are miles to go before we stop our vigorous fight against militant forces. Discovery of the presence of several new militant outfits like Ansarullah Bangla Team, BEM, Jamayate-Arakan etc. in recent days is only a wake up call for us to tighten our vigilance and strengthen drives against the mushrooming of militancy in the country.

Intelligence agencies have informed the media that some banned militant organisations like JMB, HuJi and Hizbut Tahir are regrouping under new outfits of the same nature. Moreover, the militant activists are trying to rise in armed revolt in the name of Islam. In the wake of reported emergence of Islamist militants, security personnel launched massive raids on different suspected hideouts in the capital and elsewhere. During the tough grilling by DB officials, the arrestees also disclosed that they were taking preparations to unseat the incumbent government with a view to establishing Islamic theocratic state in the country. They were also planning to launch guerrilla attacks on different government establishments and police stations to seize arms and ammunition. These fanatic forces have links with different international terrorist outfits from whom they are getting financial support. So, we fully agree with the US Ambassador to Bangladesh Dan Mazena who by terming money the oxygen of terrorism argued that we must cut off the oxygen supply to terrorists if we want to defeat terrorism. The US ambassador made the remark at the inaugural session of a three-day conference on Saarc Regional Judicial Conference on Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing at a hotel in the capital.

Steps should be taken immediately to stop money laundering and flow of money to militants. However, the reality is that the militants are now more skilled than earlier. So, the law enforcers have to utilise up-to-date technology and techniques to detect the militants’ ways of stashing in money and bring them to book.