Fighting Terror in S Asia, Beyond: Police chiefs for common strategy

Police chiefs and representatives of 14 South Asia and neighbouring nations yesterday agreed to establish a technology-based network to share information for curbing violent extremism and transnational crimes.

They also vowed to work together to identify crimes that pose immense threats to this region and the world and develop a common strategy to combat transnational crimes and violent extremism.

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The agreements are part of a 17-point joint declaration signed by the police representatives of participating countries and organisations. It was signed yesterday following a three-day international conference aimed at boosting cooperation among law enforcers.

Inspector General of Police AKM Shahidul Hoque announced the declaration after the conference.

He said the declaration would largely be implemented after they sign memorandums of understanding (MoUs) for sharing information and cooperation in curbing terrorism, transnational crimes and human trafficking. Many of the participating countries agreed to ink the MoUs.

He said the MoUs would be signed subject to government approval.

The participating states and organisations also agreed to build one-to-one communication through NCB (national central bureau) of Interpol member states and form a common forum under the banner of Interpol to enhance cooperation among chiefs of police of the region.

The participants also vowed to cooperate in enhancing capabilities against money laundering, cybercrime and financial crime and help in the study and analysis of terrorism activities and policies.

The conference titled "Chiefs of Police Conference on Regional Cooperation in Curbing Violent Extremism and Transnational Crime" was jointly organised by Interpol and Bangladesh Police.

Police chiefs or senior police representatives of 14 countries, including India, China, South Korea, Myanmar, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan, and representatives of six organisations which include Facebook and the FBI and Australian Federal Police took part in the conference held at a city hotel from March 12.

In the joint declaration, the participants agreed on exchanging information to rein in terrorism and transnational crime effectively, strengthen counter-terrorism capabilities and develop partnerships and professional networks among law enforcement agencies of the countries and organisations.

The declaration mentions increasing of cooperation among respective investigators and prosecutors to try offenders involved in terrorism and transnational crimes and cooperation among forensic science laboratories and training institutions.

It also includes assistance in capacity building, sharing of best practices and expertise and curbing smuggling of illegal arms.

IGP'S BRIEFING

The IGP said in the bilateral meetings, the participating countries agreed to deport in the quickest possible time if any terrorist or criminal is arrested in any of those countries.

"I think it is the best way and we will do that,” he said, replying to a query.

Asked what Interpol Secretary General Jurgen Stock said about bringing back of the convicted killers of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the police chief said the secretary general assured them of all cooperation in this regard.

Stock also said he would personally look into it and communicate with the countries concerned to find out the whereabouts of the killers and arrest them if Bangladesh police gave it specific information about the countries where they were hiding.

The IGP said China expressed willingness to provide Bangladesh law enforcers with training on combating violent extremism, financial crime and other offences, help capacity building, supply modern equipment and share information about terrorism if Bangaldesh wanted.

Describing Myanmar's eagerness to ink an MoU on controlling drug smuggling and sharing information on criminals as one of the big achievements of the conference, he said, "We could not do anything like this with Myanmar. The police chief of that country never visited Bangladesh.”  

SHAHRIAR'S CLAIM

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam claimed that there is no organisational existence of Islamic State (IS) or other international terrorist outfits in Bangladesh.

His remarks came a day after police chief Shahidul dismissed an international security expert's statement that IS carried out the Gulshan café attack on July 1 last year.

Shahriar was speaking at the closing ceremony of the conference.

The terror attacks that happened in the country were carried out by the homegrown militant outfits, he said, adding that there was no evidence that they had any link with any international terrorist outfits.