No organisational structure of IS in country

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal yesterday reiterated that there was no organisational structure of Islamic State in Bangladesh and law enforcing agencies had kept "under control" activities of some extremist militant groups.

The idea that IS exists here has been forced upon the country, he said, adding that national and international conspiracies were being hatched to bar the country's development trend.

"All militants being arrested are not madrasa students," he told a views-exchange meeting on the role of alem-ulema in eradicating terrorism and militancy, organised by the home ministry in the capital's Shyampur.

At a similar programme at Bangladesh Police Headquarters on December 17, the country's alem-ulema decided to issue a "fatwa" that Islam and its followers have no connection with militancy.