Bangladeshi police have arrested 37 suspected militants on the second day of a week-long clampdown launched after the recurrence of attacks by religious fanatics, officials say.
At least 1600 people were arrested after law enforcement agents began the crackdown on Islamist militants on Friday, police spokesman Kamrul Ahsan told reporters in Dhaka.
The initiative started following the murders of around 40 members of religious minorities, secular bloggers, gay rights activists and academics since early 2013.
Ahsan said 27 of the detainees are members of the Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh, an Islamist outfit banned in 2005 after carrying out attacks on public establishments and court buildings, killing at least 30 people.
Seven of them are members of Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh, another radical Islamist group, while the three others belong to little known organisations campaigning for Sharia in the Muslim-majority country, according to the police spokesman.
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The crackdown will continue until Thursday, Inspector General of Police Shahidul Hoque said.
A police officer said that agents had seized a firearm, gunpowder and homemade bombs from the suspected militants during the last two days of the clampdown.
