Bangladesh widens crackdown on crime ahead of poll

DHAKA, Jan 18 (Reuters) Security forces in Bangladesh have detained nearly 2,000 people, including political activists, since a state of emergency was declared a week ago to end pre-election violence, police said today.

Police, army and elite Rapid Action Battalion forces have been ordered to round up ''trouble makers'' in the run up to the election, expected sometime in the next few months.

The poll, originally set for January. 22, was postponed last week after the interim government's caretaker president quit after weeks of protests, strikes and transport blockades called by an alliance of parties that had boycotted the election.

Dozens of people were killed and hundreds injured in the unrest.

Security officials today said they would intensify the crackdown on criminals and political activists known to have been involved in the recent violence.

In the latest raid yesterday, security forces detained about a dozen students at Dhaka University, many of them leaders of group that support Sheikh Hasina, chief of the Awami League that leads the multi-party alliance.

Police also looked for student supporters of Hasina's rival, Begum Khaleda Zia, the immediate past prime minister, but left empty-handed, university officials said.

Inspector-General of Police, Khuda Baksh Chowdhury, told Reuters on Thursday the crackdown was aimed at improving law and order and help the economy, which had taken a battering from the rolling strikes and transport blockades.

The security forces raided a house at Savar north of the capital Dhaka on Wednesday night, detaining a man believed to be an Islamist militant and seizing bomb-making materials, police said.

A series of bomb blasts in 2005 killed 30 people and wounded 150. Islamists seeking to introduce sharia law in the Muslim-majority country were blamed for the blasts.

Police arrested top Islamist leaders early last year but police say remnants of militant groups are still active and might try to launch attacks ahead of the election, taking advantage of any political turmoil.

Khaleda ended her five-year tenure as prime minister in October and handed power to the interim authority then headed by President Iajuddin Ahmed. Under Bangladesh's constitution, a caretaker authority must organise new elections.

Hasina's alliance accused Iajuddin of favouring Khaleda in the polls and demanded he resign as caretaker president.

Iajuddin has named former central bank governor Fakhruddin Ahmed as the new caretaker chief and appointed a new panel of advisers, who quickly initiated steps to improve law and order.

Government officials said on Thursday the new caretaker president was expected to invite Hasina and Khaleda for talks on preparing for the election.

REUTERS SHB RK1705