Summit Security
Foreign travellers to be under watch
Staff Correspondent
The government has instructed the authorities concerned at home and abroad to monitor the foreigners travelling to the country and to keep keen eyes on whether they leave on time. The directive has been issued to ensure security of the Saarc Summit."The initiative was taken to tighten the loose ends of the summit security," said a high official engaged in providing security during the summit. Local authorities have been directed to keep their eyes on about 150 wanted criminals and on several terrorists groups in the Saarc region ahead of the summit to be held on November 12 and 13. The official said officials concerned usually do not keep their eyes on travelling foreigners. "They do not crosscheck the reasons for their travelling and do not monitor if they are leaving the country on time," he said. The move was made to foolproof the security of the summit following a series of home ministry meetings that emphasised on the issue of travelling foreigners during the period. The home ministry asked the foreign ministry to direct the high commissions around the globe to scrutinise the backgrounds of prospective foreign travellers and reasons for their travel to the country before issuing visas during the summit. The ministry also directed the local authorities concerned to monitor whether the travelling foreigners leave the country on schedule. Local criminals sometimes leave the country following a major criminal activity, the ministry is apprehending that foreign criminals may also try to enter the country to avoid arrest in their respective homelands, said the official. As the investigators observed that the suspected perpetrators had fled the country after the recent spate of bomb blasts in the country, the measure has been taken so that the perpetrators of the blasts in Delhi or in other countries find it difficult to enter Bangladesh during the summit, the official said. The move is also to thwart any possible entry by those foreigners who have links with the local militants or terrorist groups and to restrict the movement of the listed criminals and terrorists groups in the region. The government also instructed the immigration authorities at airports and land ports to remain on high alert about the existing blacklisted people before the summit, sources said.
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