What is Bangladesh’s “Devil Hunt” operation?

Bangladesh’s interim government has launched Operation Devil Hunt to track down the culprits who assaulted political activists during a protest in the outskirts of Dhaka.

The operation was begun after the student group gave a 24-hour ultimatum to the government to arrest the accused.

The Anti-Discrimination Student Movement leaders claim their activists went to the ex-minister’s house to prevent looting but were attacked by miscreants.

Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus’s government ordered “Operation Devil Hunt” calling out army troops as a protest by the student organization was underway in Gazipur, where their activists were assaulted on Friday.

In a statement, the Home Ministry said the operation began across Gazipur and would extend nationwide to ensure public safety. It added that details about the coordinated security clampdown comprising army and law enforcement agencies would be announced on Sunday.

According to media reports and witnesses, people in the neighborhood and Awami League workers assaulted the activists during the attack at the Gazipur home of ex-liberation war affairs minister AKM Mozammel Haque, injuring several of them.

The students’ platform leaders, however, claim their activists went to Haque’s house to stop lootings after receiving information that it was being plundered. They alleged that police did not respond to their call when the miscreants attacked them.

The Student Movement, which led the protests leading to  Hasina Wajid’s ouster, along with the Jatiya Nagorik Committee simultaneously laid siege on a major road in Gazipur under their central leaders Hasnat Abdullah and Sarjis Alam.