Dhaka militants 'threaten English schools'

Islamist militants are making threats against English-language schools in the Bangladesh capital, police said today, after officials earlier linked militants to a mutiny by paramilitary forces last month.

Police said principals of several English-language schools told them they had received threatening letters or phone calls from militants, and parents of students in the schools have been alerted of security concerns.

The letters ask for money to support the militants or treat those wounded in clashes with security forces during the mutiny or other clashes. Authorities have not been specific about the threats but another source involved in the matter said they were directed against students.

"We are aware of the situation and taking every possible measure to face it," a senior police officer who declined to be identified told Reuters.

Police have stepped up vigilance around all city schools, especially the English-language ones, where students usually come from relatively affluent families.

"I got very scared ... and picked up my son before classes were over on Thursday," said the father of a 14-year-old boy.

"I am talking with other guardians (about whether) we should send children to schools after the weekend," he told Reuters.

The February 25-26 mutiny killed nearly 80 people, mostly army officers commanding the paramilitary Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) troops, and raised fears of more violence to come.

In recent days authorities have beefed up security at a number of points in Dhaka, a sprawling city of 11 million, including the office and residence of the prime minister.

Officials say they believe Islamist militants, who killed dozens of people in Bangladesh in bomb attacks in recent years trying to make the Muslim-majority country a sharia-based Islamic state, were involved in the BDR mutiny.

"Initial findings have confirmed the involvement of outlawed Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen and other groups... More details will be revealed when the investigations are completed," Commerce Minister Faruk Khan, a retired army colonel coordinating the investigations, told reporters on Thursday.

The government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who took office in early January, has called in FBI and Scotland Yard agents to help probe the mutiny and said those found guilty would be court martialled.

Aside from Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, which has been blamed for past bombings, a number of other groups have been mentioned as possibly playing a part in the BDR mutiny, and the government has said it is concerned there could be new militant attacks.