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“These intelligence units monitor whether any member is involved in anti-state or other unlawful activities. There are also coordinated forces and central vigilance systems in place. If anyone is found involved, they are identified and dealt with under military law. This is nothing new,” he said.

Regarding a recent letter reportedly issued by Police Headquarters warning of possible militant attacks, the minister said no such letter had been issued by them.

“However, we always take precautionary measures during different national occasions,” he added.

Meanwhile, at a different programme in the capital, Zahed Ur Rahman, an adviser to the prime minister on information and broadcasting, said that militancy continues to exist in the country.

“We do not want to deny reality -- we want to combat it. However, the risk of militancy in the country is not at an alarming level. But as the old saying goes, if we don’t acknowledge a crisis or a disease, it cannot be treated. So, it is there, and we are working to bring it down to zero,” he said.

During the Awami League rule, the militancy issue was presented on a massive scale; they used it as a narrative to stay in power, he alleged.

“Their message was, ‘There are militants in Bangladesh, they will take over everything, so don’t worry about whether I held a fair election -- just keep me in power.’ That was the narrative.”

During the interim government’s time, some people tried to claim that there were no militants in Bangladesh at all, Zahed said.

“That is another extreme [position], and it is also false. Militancy existed in Bangladesh at one stage, and it still exists. We actually want to combat it.”

Being cautious is the need of the hour, Zahed said.

“Because we have noticed that during the interim government’s rule, people with these [militant] tendencies have shown a trend of becoming more organised and appearing more openly in public,” he said.

He said the BNP-led government would combat such activities.

“We should not generalise the word ‘militant’ too much. In the past, we clearly saw stories where a house would be surrounded, claims would be made that bombs were being built there, and then Rab would kill people in ‘crossfires’. So, we will be very careful about how we use this term,” he said.