Report: 82 percent militants motivated by social media sites

Majority of the militants in the country are motivated by social media sites including Facebook and Twitter, a top official of Bangladesh Police revealed citing an internal study.

About 82 percent of the militants who got arrested by law enforcement forces revealed that they were inspired through social media sites including Facebook and Twitter, the study said.

The statistics are based on data of some 250 members of militant outfits who got arrested by police.

The study also revealed that of the all militants who got arrested, 56 percent are from general education background while 22 percent from Madrasah background

Police’s Assistant Inspector General Md. Moniruzzaman revealed the statistics at a police conference at a hotel in Dhaka on Monday.

“We have found that about 80-82 percent of the militants are motivated to militancy by social media sites like Facebook and Twitter and other websites and apps,” AIG Md. Moniruzzaman said.

“We have also found that of the militants, 56 percent are general educated and 22 percent from Madrasah background,” he added.

The AIG also said that intelligence units are struggling to detect the militants as they are now using different apps like threema instead of using only social media.

“We need to focus on technology and training for the members of law enforcing agencies,” he said.

Bangladesh Police and Interpol jointly arranged the conference that will continue till March 14.

Apart from host Bangladesh, the police officers from Afghanistan, Australia, Bhutan, Brunei, China, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Vietnam also took part in the conference.

(The article originally published in Bangla edition of Jagonews24.com is written in English by Zahidul Islam)