Dhaka, Oct 31: A police constable was among three more people who have died during a two-week anti-crime crackdown by the army in Bangladesh, reports said yesterday. The constable, who was detained by troops a week ago during raids in the Southeastern port city of Chittagong, died Tuesday of a brain haemorrhage in a military hospital, doctors told the news yesterday. In the nearby Sylhet region, a young man died in army custody Tuesday, the newspaper said.
And a student arrested a week ago in Eastern Bangladesh and later hospitalised under police guard died overnight at a government hospital in Dhaka, the Channel-I Television network reported.
The deaths take the number of people who have died in the anti-crime campaign to 13.



Home Ministry officials said yesterday that 158 more people had been detained in the anti-crime swoop over the past day and 26 unauthorised firearms recovered.



Close to 3,200 people have been taken into custody since Prime Minister Khaleda Zia on October 17 ordered 40,000 army troops on to the streets to crack down on crime, which has become a major political issue.



Relatives of most of those who have died have alleged torture, but the government says the victims died from heart attacks.



The main opposition Awami League has said the anti-crime drive, codenamed "Operation Clean Heart," has targetted its members.



Bureau Report