Operation Devil Hunt: How Bangladesh Is Hunting Sheikh Hasina Loyalists

The security forces in Bangladesh have arrested as many as 1,308 individuals from across the country as part of the ongoing "Operation Devil Hunt" launched to curb nationwide incidents of mob attacks and vandalism. The operation was launched by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus-led interim government on Saturday after student activists were injured in Gazipur last week during vandalism at a former Awami League Minister's home.

The joint operation involving the army, police and specialised units arrested at least 274 people from metropolitan areas, and another 1,034 from other parts of the country, Bangladeshi publication The Business Standard quoted Enamul Haque Sagar, assistant inspector general (media and PR) at the Police Headquarters as saying.

The people arrested under the specialised operation were mostly members of the Awami League and its associate organisations, according to a report by The Daily Star.

In Gazipur, 81 leaders and activists of Awami League and its affiliated organisations were arrested, while in Cumilla, three people associated with ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's party were taken in custody by police. Joint forces also reportedly detained seven Awami League leaders, including a union parishad chairman, during separate drives at various areas in Noakhali's Hatia upazila.

About Operation Devil Hunt?

The Yunus-led interim government started a special drive named 'Operation Devil Hunt' on Saturday with an aim to curb unrest and ensure public safety across the country. A government statement said the operation began after gangs "linked to the fallen autocratic regime attacked a group of students, leaving them severely injured".

Speaking about the special drive, Home Adviser Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury said it will continue until all "devils" are exposed to justice and "not a single devil should be left out".

The Home Adviser stressed the operation will continue targeting those who attempt to destabilise the country, disobeying the law as anarchists. "Many of those who attacked the students and the public in Gazipur have been brought to book. The rest will soon be exposed to justice," he said on Saturday. 

Later on Sunday, Senior Secretary of the Home Ministry Nasimul Ghani said the operation will continue as long as necessary. "Our target is to neutralise the pockets from where attempts are being made to destabilise the country," he said.

As part of the operation, the government has established a command centre at the Police Headquarters under the Ministry of Home Affairs from where representatives of all forces are monitoring the country's law and order situation.

The sweeping security operations come after days of unrest.

On Wednesday, six months to the day since Hasina fled as crowds attacked her palace in Dhaka, protesters smashed down buildings connected to her family using excavators. Protests were triggered in response to reports that 77-year-old Hasina -- who has defied an arrest warrant to face trial crimes against humanity -- would appear in a Facebook broadcast from exile in neighbouring India.

Buildings destroyed included the museum and former home of Hasina's late father, Bangladesh's first president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The interim government blamed Hasina for the violence.

On Friday, interim leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus also pleaded for calm. "Respecting the rule of law is what differentiates the new Bangladesh we are working together to build, from the old Bangladesh under the fascist regime," Yunus said in a statement.

"For the citizens who rose up and overthrew the Hasina regime ... it is imperative to prove to ourselves and our friends around the world that our commitment to our principles -- respecting one another's civil and human rights and acting under the law -- is unshakable."