Khulna madrasas under watch

4 April 2009, 18:00 PM

Staff Correspondent, Khulna

Activities of over a thousand quami, ebtedayee, nurani and alia madrasas in all nine upazilas in Khulna district are under surveillance of police and intelligence agencies. Sources said the Ministry of Home Affairs issued an order last week in this regard after the Bhola incident in which police recovered huge arms and ammunition from a militant camp there. Khulna Police Superintendent YM Belalur Rahman told this correspondent that a list is being prepared to ascertain the exact number of the aforesaid categories of madrasas in the district. This is being done as arms and ammunition were seized from Green Crescent madrasa at Ram Keshabpur village under Borhanuddin upazila of Bhola, he said. Police and intelligence agencies in all upazilas have been directed to increase their watch on madrasas particularly on the Quami and on other suspected places, he added. Sources said there are over 5,000 students in the three categories of madrasas and police and intelligence agencies are working to ascertain sources of their income and heads of expenditure. Besides, background of teachers and guardians of students are also being looked into by the agencies. "We are also trying to get an idea about the curriculum of quami madrasa and identify persons who finance these madrasas," said a senior Khulna police official. Police and intelligence agencies detected militant activities in some madrasas of Khulna city and district after the serial bomb blasts across the country in 2005. Over two dozens of operatives of JMB and other Islamist militant organisations were arrested during crackdown on different madrasas and houses.