Bangladesh Police will set up an Anti-Terrorism and Transnational Crime Control Centre at the city's Agargaon aiming to combat terrorism and transnational crimes, officials said on Saturday.
They said the police will use the centre not only to check the terrorist activities, but also to do research, create manpower with high technology and build awareness among the people.
It has undertaken a project involving Tk 3.54 billion and sent it to the Planning Commission (PC) for getting approval.
Officials said the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit under the Bangladesh Police will use the proposed centre to control the sophisticated criminal activities in Bangladesh.
Additional DIG of Police Gazi Md. Mozammel Huq told the FE that since terrorism in Bangladesh is growing over the years, the security agency is committed to checking the criminal activities properly.
Currently, the police are not well-equipped to counter the terrorist activities and transnational crimes as the terrorists are so intelligent that they use the sophisticated technology and change the method of their activities one after another.
Under the proposed project, the police will carry out research on the crime and terrorist activities and take necessary preparations to control those types of criminal activities in Bangladesh, Mr Huq said.
He added: "We will set up a big research unit inside the proposed centre. The research unit will study on the pattern of crimes, involved criminals, and necessary recommendations for checking those terrorist activities."
According to the project proposal, the proposed Anti-Terrorism and Transnational Crime Control Centre will also work for rehabilitation of the terrorists, motivation to the criminal and their family members against the terrorist activities.
It will also set up lab facilities for forensic and other tests of the criminal activities.
Although Bangladesh is a progressive Muslim-majority country, some recent incidents including the Holey Artisan terrorist attack in Gulshan and Sholakia attack have changed the security scenario of the country.
Mr Mozammel Huq said although Bangladesh Police has set up a counter-terrorism and transnational crime unit, it needs to enhance its capacity to counter the changing terrorism activities by the terrorists in Bangladesh.
"The terrorists are so sophisticated that they always change the method of their activities. If we do research and train our forces, they can easily be able to track those criminal activities and check those in time," he added.
A PC official said they are scrutinising the project. "If we see it viable and necessary for the country, then we will place it before the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) for getting approval."
kabirhumayan10@gmial.com