Dhaka, July 3 -- Three days after Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Sheikh Md Sazzat Ali claimed there were "no militants in Bangladesh", one of his senior colleagues took a different tone, saying there is no need to apply "colour" to "dress up" crimes.

Referring to the militant attack while addressing a briefing on the security measures ahead of Ashura at Dhaka's Hussaini Dalan on Thursday, DMP Additional Commissioner (Crime and Operations) SN Md Nazrul Islam said: "A crime is a crime whether you call it militancy or anything else.

"If someone sets off an explosive, people die -- that's a crime."

A decade ago, a militant attack took place at Hussaini Dalan during Ashura.

Asked about the possibility of similar threats, he s...