Law enforcement agencies follow different strategies to gather intelligence on the perpetrators including war criminals, listed terrorists, militants, and drug peddlers.
After thorough revise, reports from grassroots are forwarded to the Police Headquarters' (HQ) Crime Management branch for documentation.
Officials at police HQ said, information on the criminals is gathered through different sources in addition to the detective units with community police and beat policing system are contributing significantly to this matter.
Sahely Ferdous, assistant inspector general (AIG-community police) of Police HQ, said “Community policing has been the prime source of information on criminal activities. Community police often first notice criminals activities on the field
"They inform to the local police station about suspects and suspicious activities," she added.
Police have taken several plans to collect information. It includes appointing a team 8 to 10 guards and sources to trace the criminals.
Moves have also been taken to raise people awareness against fanaticism, religious misinterpretation, ‘Fatoya’, and Hilla and child marriages.
Back in 2017, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Kamrul Ahsan took initiatives in Sylhet in line with the police plans that earned him an award during the Police Week this year.
DIG Ahsan told Bangla Tribune, “To wipe out militancy and terrorism at grassroots, several initiatives have been taken by the Police HQ.
"We have modified these based on the need of the area. Now not only in Sylhet, but police are also applying these across the country to keep people safe,” he added.
Beat policing idea was implemented on Sylhet city first, then it was applied to all districts, municipalities, unions, and wards of Sylhet, said Ahsan.
Beat policing officials are responsible for mapping their respective areas, listing General Registered (GR) and Compliant Registered (CR) cases, warrants, verdicts, identifying ten top criminals and ten influential figures of the area.
According to DIG Ahsan, the criminals and their activities are monitored properly through this strategy.
Besides, police also obtain intelligence on cyber crimes and technical assistance from the Home Ministry's National Telecommunication Monitoring Center (NTMC).
In addition to the sources, police HQ also follows new methods to gather intelligence amid the rise of militancy across the country in recent years, officials said.
When asked on how police gather and preserve intelligence on war criminals, terrorists, and fugitives, Crime Management officials declined to comment.
Police run surveillance on especially social media and communication tools as militants and terrorists often communicate in the virtual world
In addition to police's different units, the NTMC, too, carries out duty to prevent misuse of technology.
“Technological misuse has been increased due to fast and uncontrolled flow of information," said Brigadier General Ziaul Ahsan.
"The NTMC's platforms are used to provide law enforcement agencies and intelligence agencies including National Security Intelligence with information and technological assistant on terrorists,” said Ahsan, who heads the NTMC.