Bangladesh police detains suspected Islamists

Dhaka, Mar 31: Bangladesh police busted a den of suspected militants in the capital hours after six Islamists were hanged over a series of bomb attacks in 2005.

The army-backed government has vowed to stamp out extremist violence and security has been beefed up across the country, which has been under emergency rule since January.

Police said they had detained 22 suspected militants meeting in Dhaka's Mohammadpur area.

They said the detainees were members of Hizbut Tahrir, an Islamist group, and were being interrogated.

Police also captured two suspected members of the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen in northern Rajshahi district yesterday.

Police said among those hanged were Bangla Bhai, chief of the outlawed Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh group, and Shayek Abdur Rahman, supreme leader of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen.

Authorities, fearing reprisals, tightened security across the country today. Police and elite Rapid Action Battalion searched vehicles and pedestrians, witnesses said.

''Though Friday's executions can be seen as an initial success, the battle against the terrorists is an endless process,'' M. Ataur Rahman, president of Bangladesh Political Science Association, told Reuters.

Reuters