"Businessmen have become targets in most places and daily incidents of extortion, mugging, kidnapping and murders have created widespread panic among businessmen," the statement said.

The statement coincided with the media reports on 358 killings in August and 337 in July and an alarming rise in abduction of businessmen and schoolchildren across the country, especially in Chittagong.

According to the media reports, the wave of killings in the southern region also went up, reflecting the failure of law-enforcement agencies to curb crime.

Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, Bangladesh Textile Mills Association, Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Bangladesh Employers' Federation signed the joint statement.

The statement said all sections of society are scared and people feel trapped in the hands of criminals. The situation has spiralled out of control of law enforcers, it observed.

"We urge the government to immediately launch a special drive to protect countrymen, including businessmen, from terror and a sense of helplessness," the statement added.

Meanwhile, Esko Kentrschyn-skyj, head of the European Commi-ssion delegation, expressed concern at the law and order slide at a meeting with Law Minister Moudud Ahmed at his office yesterday.