[Dhaka Tribune] Babul Akter, a decorated police officer and a recipient of Bangladesh Police Medal in 2012 for bravery, was once introduced by the then inspector general of police at a government function as the most fearless and talented officer in his force for leading a good number of counter-terrorism operations against "homegrown" bully boys.
But such accolades, high praise, honour, and his own dedication to his job were not enough to save his own family. Akter's wife Mahmuda Khanam Mitu was stabbed and rubbed out on broad daylight in downtown Chittagong's busiest area yesterday, apparently in the hands of those same bully boys. Their seven-year-old son was a witness of the incident.
On the very same day, an elderly Christian shopkeeper was hacked to death in NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all....
re's Banpara upazila, which has had a notorious history of bully boy activities for years.
Though the killing of the sexagenarian shopkeeper can be listed as one more tally in the ongoing killing spree, claimed by the so-called Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
or al-Qaeda in the Indian sub-continent (AQIS) operatives, but the 32-year-old Mitu's execution came as a shock to many, for the inconsistency in the known modus operandi (MO) of the bully boys.
Thus far, writers, publishers, online activists, teachers, priests, imams, LGBT activists and foreigners have been targeted in the bully boy killings.
It is safe to assume that Akter, for his direct involvement as a crucial part of state machinery in rooting out militancy, will be considered a highly-valuable target for the bully boys. But the killing of his wife demonstrates that the bully boys' MO has taken a drastically different and dangerous turn. They are not only working to spread fear among the population, but also they will not hesitate to take the path of retaliation by killing family members of coppers, mafia style.
Security analyst Maj Gen (retd) AK Mohammad Ali Sikder said: "Earlier, snuffies attacked police officials, personnel but never a family member. It seems the bully boy groups have changed the nature of their targets. They are targeting the family members of the active and efficient police officials to break their morale and to push forward their own agenda." 
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