No trace of 'new' al-Qaeda: B'desh police

Dhaka, May 20: Bangladesh's police chief says his force has so far found no trace of a group calling itself Zadid (new) al-Qaeda, which is suspected of carrying out bomb blasts at three railway stations across the country in early May.

''We have yet to find any trace of Zadid al-Qaeda. But we are still investigating the blasts,'' Nur Mohammad, inspector general of police, told reporters.

''Police could not gather any evidence that would prove the existence of the new militant outfit,'' he said late yesterday.

Metal plates found at the railway stations following the simultaneous blasts on May 1 bored scribbled Islamist slogans signed ''Zadid al-Qaeda'', police said. One man was injured in the explosion in the southern port city of Chittagong.

No one was hurt in the other two explosions, in Dhaka and the northeastern city of Sylhet, which were apparently intended to announce the group's existence.

Last week, Zadid al-Qaeda threatened to blow up a railway bridge that connects the northern and southwest parts of the country, and a railway station in Pabna.

A letter sent to a railway official said: ''We have recruited Allah's soldiers to blow up the bridge and the station.'' The group also threatened to kill members of the police and the elite Rapid Action Battalion force.

Police stepped up security at railway stations and key installations following the second threat.

They doubted that it was a genuine threat, one police officer said. ''Nevertheless, we cannot ignore this in the prevailing circumstances.'' Bangladesh has about half a dozen known Islamic militant outfits including the outlawed Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen and Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh.

Six top leaders of the two groups were hanged in March but their followers have vowed to regroup and pursue their goal of imposing Islamic sharia law in the mainly Muslim Bangladesh.

Police have arrested at least 100 Islamists in countrywide raids since early April.

REUTERS

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