The directive came from a meeting on law and order at the home ministry yesterday with State Minister for Home Affairs Lutfozzaman Babar in the chair.

A home ministry official said the intelligence agencies have been asked to gather information about the local operators so that they could be put into jails.

The meeting was attended, among others, by Home Secretary Safar Raj Hossain, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Anwarul Iqbal, Director General of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) MA Aziz Sarker and other officials concerned.

Emerging from the meeting, the state minister told journalists that the investigation into the killing of Dr Aftab is progressing "reasonably well".

About the country's law and order situation, Babar said the law and order is now better and it will continue to improve.

"I've ordered the law enforcers to take necessary steps so that the situation cannot deteriorate after the present government hands over power to a caretaker government," he said.

Referring to a list of syndicates responsible for the price hike of essentials, the minister said he did not get any list of syndicates from the commerce ministry to arrest them.

Replying to another query, the state minister said illegal toll collection from the vehicles carrying essential commodities is not the main reason behind the price hike. "Retailers are mainly responsible for the price hike as they're trying to make windfall profits," Babar alleged.

The meeting sources said the state minister expressed dissatisfaction at the rising trend in the incidents of mugging in the capital and directed the law enforcers to intensify their drives.