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Bangladesh

New JMB ‘spiritual leader’ remanded

2017-03-04

[Dhaka Tribune] A Dhaka court has granted a seven-day remand against New JMB’s alleged "spiritual leader" Maulana Abul Kashem in a case filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act. Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Satyabrata Shikder passed the order on Friday afternoon when investigation officer CTTC Inspector Jahangir Alam produced him before the court with a 10-day remand plea. Earlier he was shown tossed in the slammer Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! in a case at Dhaka’s Mirpur model cop shoppe. "Maulana Kashem also headed a faction of the original Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh bad boy group," Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Deputy Commissioner (media) Masudur Rahman told the Dhaka Tribune. The New JMB group is affiliated with the international terrorist group 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.... that eyes establishing Shariah Law in the country, and spreading its jihad to Myanmar’s Rakhine State and parts of India. Maulana Kashem had been working at the Okharabari Madrasa of Dinajpur. CTTC unit officials in October last year said that Maulana Kashem had been under their surveillance. Most of its leaders including its military and operations chief Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury have been killed in shootouts with the police or arrested after they killed over two dozen people at a Dhaka restaurant on July 1 last year. The detectives are now looking for eight to ten second-tier leaders of the New JMB, who were involved in at least three dozen attacks since September 2015. The once-mighty JMB, which was formed in 1998 and banned in 2005, has now split into several small groups due to the detention of its second ameer Maulana Saidur Rahman in 2010 and the execution of five top leaders, including its founder Shayakh Abdur Rahman, in 2007. Maulana Kashem declared him chief of the unit after the arrest of Maulana Saidur. Former Majlish-e-Sura member of the JMB and a death-row convict, Salahuddin alias Salehin now heads the old JMB faction. He has remained absconding since February 2014 when JMB members snatched him from a prison van. Bangladesh-origin Canadian citizen Tamim Chowdhury came to Bangladesh on October 5, 2013 from Syria and tried to form an umbrella group of bad boy outfits. Tamim later met Maulana Kashem in July 2015 when he helped Tamim to reunite old JMB members. After the death of Tamim, the operations wing came under the lead of Faridul Islam Akash and later Nurul Islam Marjan, both killed in raids by the police’s CTTC unit. Another leader of the outfit Musa alias Mainuddin alias Mosiuddin is now leading its operations. A dozen other top and second-tier leaders of the New JMB group are still absconding. They include Basharuzzaman alias Abul Bashar alias Chocolate, Sohel Mahfuz alias Hatkata Mahfuz, Ripon, Khalid, Junayed Hasan Khan, Iqbal, Manik, Mamun, Azadul Kabiraz and Badal.

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Bangladesh

31 ‘IS supporters’ killed in 10 months

2016-09-12

[Dhaka Tribune] Law enforcers have dealt Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh’s new faction a severe body blow over the last ten months, killing leader Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury and 30 of its operatives. Two other identified members of the deadly group have died by their own hands ‐ one in a suicide mission and another to evade arrest. The dead gunnies were involved in attacks carried out and claimed by the 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.... group since October last year. Militant Md Tarek Aziz alias Musa died in a suicide kaboom on an Ahmadiyya mosque in Baghmara, Rajshahi on December 26. Md Shamsher Uddin alias Abdul Karim, who rented safe houses for New JMB operatives in Bashundhara, Kallyanpur and Narayanganj, killed himself during a police raid in Dhaka’s Azimpur area on September 10. Nine of the 31 gunnies belonging to the outfit were killed before the July 1 Gulshan attack and another eight have been killed in raids since August. The government does not recognise the killed gunnies as IS members because they say the international terrorist group does not have an organizational structure here. Instead, it labels the gunnies as members of New JMB. After the police operation in Narayanganj that killed New JMB coordinator and Gulshan attack criminal mastermind Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury on August 27, and Tamim’s second-in-command in a Mirpur raid on September 2, Sherlocks identified Maulana Abul Kashem as the group’s spiritual leader. Detectives say the once-mighty JMB, which was formed in 1998 and banned in 2005, has now split into three small groups due to the detention of its second ameer Maulana Saidur Rahman in 2010 and the execution of five top leaders, including its founder Shayakh Abdur Rahman, in 2007. Law enforcers are now looking for Kashem ‐ a former leader of the main JMB and former principal of Okhabari Madrasa in Dinajpur, and a dozen other coordinators and top leaders of the New JMB including Nurul Islam Marjan. Detectives claim they have also identified a number of foreign and local financiers and patronisers of the group. Tamim, 30, a Canadian citizen who came to Bangladesh on October 5, 2013 via Dubai, is believed to have formed the new Death Eater outfit. Tamim is believed to have met Kashem in July last year. During the meeting, Kashem gave Tamim the nom de guerre Abu Bakar al-Hanif. Dabiq, the IS’s propaganda magazine, published an interview of al-Hanif and referred to him as IS’s chief in Bangladesh. In the interview, he said attacks were being planned against India and Myanmar where he said Moslems were being persecuted, from their base in Bangladesh. But this process will take time due to the presence of Hindus in Bangladesh, Hanif said. The group began its operations last year by killing Japanese citizen Hoshi Kunio in Kaunia, Rangpur on October 3, according to the Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit that deals with militancy-related cases. But according to IS news agency Amaq, the group’s first attack was the killing of Italian citizen and NGO worker Cesare Tavella in Gulshan on September 28. Police recently pressed charges in the case against a number of BNP leaders and activists who allegedly hired gunnies to target and kill an expatriate. Amaq lists 26 operations carried out until August 23, when a Hindu grocer survived a machete attack in Narsingdi. During this time, the deadliest single attack, which left 23 people including 17 foreigners dead, took place at a Gulshan eatery on July 1. Other victims of the attacks include non-Sunni and non-Moslem preachers, liberals and law enforcers. Even though IS did not claim the July 7 attack on police near the Sholakia Eid congregation and another attack on a Hindu college teacher in Madaripur on June 15, Sherlocks believe the same group was behind those attacks. Some attacks, including Death Eater-style strikes against Christians, Hindus, Shias, two Hindu temples in Dinajpur and grenade attacks on Navy mosques in Chittagong, have not been claimed by any group.

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Bangladesh

Monirul: Main JMB weakening

2016-08-20

[Dhaka Tribune] Al-Qaeda-inspired JMB, an outlawed Lion of Islam group responsible for carrying out series kabooms in 63 districts on this day in 2005, has lost much of its strength in the recent years, detectives say. But, the recently-emerged Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) faction has appeared on the scene as a deadlier Lion of Islam group than the mainstream one, founded in 1998 by Shayakh Abdur Rahman. Law enforcers blame the New JMB members for most of the recent assassination'>assassinations including the Gulshan and Sholakia attacks, while some of the attacks were claimed by another Lion of Islam group Ansarullah Bangla Team. Ansarullah was declared banned in May last year. The New JMB is believed to be inspired by international terrorist group 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.... and local Ahle Hadith group. It is operated by eight to ten coordinators under the leadership of a yet unidentified spiritual leader from a northern district, detectives say. Police say they have incarcerated I ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece! around 150 New JMB members in the last two years. The main JMB in June this year issued a statement describing the attacks they have conducted since 1998 and denied having involved in other attacks. It said former majlish-e-sura member Salahuddin alias Salehin alias Sajeeb became their chief after he was snatched from a prison van in February 2014. In another statement released on July 31, the JMB claimed they had no connection with the Gulshan attack when 23 people mostly foreigners were killed in a restaurant on July 1. The previous chief, Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... leader Maulana Saidur Rahman, has been in jail since 2010 while its founder was hanged in 2007 along with several other policymakers including Siddiqur Rahman alias Bangla Bhai. The group was banned on February 23, 2005. After the August 17 blasts carried out in 511 places, the JMB carried out several suicide kabooms killing at least 33 people before its top leaders were arrested in early 2006. The notorious group came to light by establishing a reign of terror in Rajshahi and NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions... re in 2004 by killing and torturing dozens of people, in the name of operations against forces of Evil linked to leftist parties and under the patronisation of some BNP-Jamaat leaders, and the attack on Prof Humayun Azad. Around 160 cases were filed against the JMB leaders and patrons across the country regarding these incidents. But verdicts have been given in only 88 of the cases in the last 11 years. At least 51 cases are still waiting for disposal in different district courts. In the 88 cases, 35 bully boyz were given death penalty, and of them, only six have been executed so far. The other cases are pending with the top court. The courts sentenced 131 bully boyz to life-term imprisonment in these cases. Four out of the 18 cases filed over 33 blasts in Dhaka city on this day in 2005 have been quashed by the courts. According to the Police Headquarters data, police gave final report in 17 out of 160 cases clearing the accused. The number of people sued in the 143 other cases was 242 but charges were pressed against 1,157 people. Investigators say 960 of the accused have been arrested so far. However, ars longa, vita brevis... the number of bully boyz who secured bail could not be known. In the recent years, the main JMB members were responsible for several assassination'>assassinations that include Mohammad Shahidullah at Tanore in Rajshahi on May 6, retired sergeant instructor of Kashimpur jail Rustom Hawlader in Gazipur on April 25, Pir Khijir Khan in Badda area of Dhaka on October 5 last year, popular preacher Sheikh Nurul Islam Faruqi in Dhaka on August 27, 2014, and self-proclaimed Pir Lutfar Rahman, his son and four disciples at Gopibagh in Dhaka on December 21, 2013.

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Bangladesh

JMB chief's son, 7 others arrested

2015-07-29

[Dhaka Tribune] Leaders and activists of banned murderous Moslem outfit Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh The JMB is said to be the youth front of Al Mujahideen, the parent organization that began working toward establishing Bangladesh as an Islamic state in the mid 1990s which remains obscure even today. Other organizations, such as Jama'atul Jihad, JMB, Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB), Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HUJI), Hizbut Tawhid, Tawhidi Janata, Islami Jubo Shangha, Islami Shangha, Al Falah A'am Unnayan Shanstha and Shahadat-e al Hiqma are believed to be part of the Al Mujahideen network. The JMB at its peak was reported to contain at least 100,000 members, and an alleged 2,000-man suicide brigade, few of whom actually exploded. JMB allegedly received financial assistance from individual donors in Kuwait, UAE, Bahrain, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Libya. Reports have claimed that funding of JMB by international NGOs like Kuwait based Society of the Revival of Islamic Heritage (RIHS) and Doulatul Kuwait, Saudi Arabia based Al Haramaine Islamic Institute and Rabita Al Alam Al Islami, Qatar Charitable Society and UAE-based Al Fuzaira and Khairul Ansar Al Khairia. The top leadership of JMB was captured in 2005 and hung in 2007, which pretty much shot their bolt. (JMB) wanted to prove their strength by attacking on prison van to snatch its nabbed Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! chief Maulana Saidur Rahman, detectives say after the arrest of the group's acting chief.

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Bangladesh

Rab arrests 2 JMB men

2011-02-12

[Bangla Daily Star] Rapid Action Battalion nabbed two members of banned cut-thoat outfit Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh The JMB is said to be the youth front of Al Mujahideen, the parent organization that began working toward establishing Bangladesh as an Islamic state in the mid 1990s which remains obscure even today. Other organizations, such as Jama'atul Jihad, JMB, Jagrata Mohammedan Janata Bangladesh (JMJB), Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HUJI), Hizbut Tawhid, Tawhidi Janata, Islami Jubo Shangha, Islami Shangha, Al Falah A'am Unnayan Shanstha and Shahadat-e al Hiqma are believed to be part of the Al Mujahideen network. The JMB at its peak was reported to contain at least 100,000 members, and an alleged 2,000-man suicide brigade, few of whom actually went kaboom!. JMB allegedly received financial assistance from individual donors in Kuwait, UAE, Bahrain, Pakistan, Soddy Arabia and Libya. Reports have claimed that funding of JMB by international NGOs like Kuwait based Society of the Revival of Islamic Heritage (RIHS) and Doulatul Kuwait, Soddy Arabia based Al Haramaine Islamic Institute and Rabita Al Alam Al Islami, Qatar Charitable Society and UAE-based Al Fuzaira and Khairul Ansar Al Khairia. The top leadership of JMB was captured in 2005 and hung in 2007, which pretty much shot their bolt. (JMB) from a rented house in Alokdia of Sirajganj early yesterday. The arrestees, Mohtasin Billah, 25, was the treasurer of JMB central unit and Al-Amin Hossain, 20, was an ehsar (fulltime) member, said Rab. The crime busters produced the two before journalists at Rab headquarters yesterday. "Lookee what we found!" A team of Rab-12 raided the house in Alokdia village under Salonga Police Station and nabbed them around 1:30am, said Commander Mohammad Sohail, director of Rab's Legal and Media Wing. During the raid the law enforcers seized some jihadi books, paper cuttings of JMB-related news, How cute -- they were scrapbooking. Probably just as well they never tried for grown-up careers. documents, CDs, leaflets and Bangladeshi fake currencies worth Tk 25,000 from their possession, added the Rab official. Prolly had been better off doing armed robberies and kidnappings to raise funds. Counterfeiting is too traceable. They also recovered some hand-written documents containing description on how to operate firearms, guard dens, work in disguise and what to say during police interrogation. "Oboy -- can I do the interrogation, Sarge? This is going to be a fun one." "This one is going to require extra mustache wax all around, lad. You haven't enough mustache yet. Maybe next year." Responding to a query Sohail said they were not sure who had been leading the outfit after the arrest of its chief Maulana Saidur Rahman on May 24 last year. They, however, learnt a Sohel Mahfuz had taken over. Welcome the new capo. The same as the old capo. The outfit runs with the donations of members and by bake sales selling fake notes, claimed the Rab official adding, presently they are not strong enough to run subversive activities, though they are trying to recruit members by motivating people. They sound pretty moth-eaten, this particular bunch of lions of Islam. Mohtasin is a brother of jugged JMB chief's second wife Nurunnahar Himu. Nepotism has been the ruination of more organizations... Rab nabbed Himu along with her younger brother Muktasim Billah Rubel's wife Asma Mimi in a drive on November 1, 2009 at Mayakanon of the city's Sabujbagh.

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Bangladesh

Depleted JMB targets Dhaka

2010-05-27

[Bangla Daily Star] The banned Islamist militant group Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh has been hoping to attract new recruits by signalling its re-emergence through a series of explosions in the capital, said intelligence sources yesterday. "Due to the arrest of the group's current chief, their reorganising efforts will fail," Inspector General of Police (IGP) Nur Mohammad told The Daily Star. "The execution of their former chief Abdur Rahman basically destroyed their network. Recently they were trying to reorganise from the capital." the IGP added. Current JMB chief Maulana Saidur Rahman alias Zafar, who was arrested by law enforcers on Tuesday, told detectives that his detained third wife Naima Akhter, and two other women who managed to escape Sunday's police raid on their Dania hideout, are well trained in use of grenades and other firearms. During a preliminary interrogation, he admitted to his earlier affiliation with Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami. The intelligence sources said JMB operatives have been storing handmade grenades in different hideouts in the capital. The grenades were not manufactured in the capital, they added. Law enforcers so far raided three JMB dens, two in the city's Dania and the other at Painadi of Narayanganj; but they could not ascertain how many more such hideouts are there in the city, and on its outskirts. JMB operative Abu Bakkar Siddique alias Shiblu, who had been injured during his arrest on Sunday, told detectives that the group had recently trained some of its female operatives in using grenades, and they have been taking preparations to carry out a series of grenade attacks in the capital on a limited scale. Shiblu also said the aim of the planned attacks is to signal the group's re-emergence, and to attract prospective new recruits. An intelligence official said Shiblu was the chief of the planned operation. The official added that the top brass of JMB used codes in documents outlining the attack plans. The law enforces have such a document in their possession, and have been able to decode it, he said. The document says the group would carry out small scale attacks in the capital first, to assert its re-emergence. It also reveals that the group has plans to assassinate some people in the judiciary, and some "traitors", the definition of which are yet to be known by the sleuths. Meanwhile, arrested Saidur Rahman, Naima Akhter, and full-time JMB member Abdullah-hel-Kafi were sent on six-day remand each yesterday. Special Branch Sub-inspector Saiful Islam filed a case with Kodomtoli police against the three in connection with terrorist activities. The group's military wing coordinator Amir Hossain alias Sharif, and another full-time member Nur Hossain alias Sabuj, both of whom had been arrested from Narayanganj on Sunday, were sent to 7-day remand each yesterday. Two cases were filed against the two on Monday, in connection with possession of bomb making materials, firearms, ammunition, and jihadi books. Three cases were filed against Shiblu on Sunday, in connection with possession of firearms and explosives, and assault on law enforcers. Shiblu is undergoing treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital as he was wounded in a bomb explosion that he himself carried out trying to escape arrest, wounding eight law enforcers as well.

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Bangladesh

JMB chief Saidur held

2010-05-26

[Bangla Daily Star] Police have arrested JMB chief Maulana Saidur Rahman, his wife and three other top leaders of the banned Islamist outfit. They made the arrests in the capital and Narayanganj on Monday and early yesterday. Besides Saidur alias Zafar, the others detained are his third wife Naima Akhter, JMB's military coordinator Amir Hossain alias Sharif and ehsar (full-time) members Nur Hossain alias Sabuj and Abdullah Hel Kafi. During the raids, the cops recovered a huge cache of bomb-making materials, firearms and ammunition and jihadi books. The arrestees except Naima were paraded before the media at the police headquarters yesterday afternoon. There, Inspector General of Police Nur Mohammad said several militant organisations are still operative in the country and they might have an alliance. Replying to a query, he said that since militancy is now a global phenomenon, Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh might have connections with militant groups in neighbouring countries. He also said they are trying to gather if JMB has a suicide squad. The police chief claimed they arrested Saidur, his wife and ehsar member Abdullah Hel Kafi at a house in the city's East Dania on Monday night. A team drawing members from the police headquarters, DMP, SB, Criminal Investigation Department and Detective Branch conducted the swoops, he added. Some sources in law enforcement agencies however say police arrested the JMB chief at least three days before they made the news public yesterday. Additional IGP (admin) NBK Tripura, Special Branch (SB) chief additional IGP Zaved Patwary, additional IGP (rector) Naim Ahmed and Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner AKM Shahidul Hoque were present at the press conference. A handout issued by the police headquarters later said military wing coordinator Amir Hossain alias Sharif and ehsar member Nur Hossain were picked up from Sharif's house at Painadi in Narayanganj early yesterday. A live bomb fitted to a belt usually worn by suicide squad members, several belts, one pistol, two magazines, hand-made bullets and a huge amount of explosives and bomb-making equipment were recovered from Sharif's house and a large stash of leaflets and jihadi books from Saidur's possession. Saidur took over as JMB boss in February 2006, shortly after the arrest of Shaekh Abdur Rahman, the then JMB supremo. The same month that year, Rapid Action Battalion raided his Shibganj house in Sylhet and recovered huge explosives. Saidur had long been on the run. In absentia, he had been sentenced to 14 years in jail in an explosives case. The IGP said JMB's organisational strength had waned much after the execution of Shaekh Abdur Rahman and other top brass. But in recent months, the organisation has been regrouping its cadres. Since the serial blasts across the country in 2005, the law enforcers arrested over 600 JMB leaders and activists. Of them, Shaekh Abdur Rahman, his deputy Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai, Rahman's brother Ataur Rahman Sunny, brother-in-law Abdul Awal, suicide bomber Iftekhar Hasan Mamun and Majlis-e-Shura member Khaled Saifullah were executed on March 29, 2008 for killing two Jhalakathi judges on November 14, 2005.

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Bangladesh

Raid raid JMB chief's flat

2010-05-25

The flat raided by law-enforcers Sunday night was a den of banned Islamist outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh and the arrestee was its military wing chief Shiblu, claimed police. Police have picked up Shiblu's parents and two siblings for squeezing quizzing and recovered nine more homemade grenades from the flat. Additional Superintendent of Police Zannatul Hasan of the police headquarters said they had information that Shiblu took over the charge of JMB explosive unit after the arrest of former chief Boma Mizan last year. He said Shiblu set up his den there to make explosives for JMB, which is trying to regroup again. Sources say that a 21-member team consisted of police headquarters, Kadamtoli police and Special Branch of police raided the flat to capture Maulana Saidur Rahman, the current JMB chief. Detained Shiblu, however, identified himself as Abu Bakkar Siddique and an operative of banned Islamist outfit Harkatul-Jihad (Huji). Either way he's a dead man walking ... Zannatul, who led the operation Sunday, told The Daily Star that the name of detained JMB explosive unit chief might be Abu Bakkar Siddique but he took the pseudonyms Nazrul alias Shiblu in his organisation. The JMB version of a cut-out? Shiblu was undergoing treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital with burn injuries. He was wounded when a homemade grenade exploded in his hands as he was trying to flee by hurling grenades and firing shots at the police Sunday night. The police were raiding the JMB den at South Dania. Burned hands? That's gotta hurt. Always the chance for sepsis ... It appears the Bangladeshi bomb-makers are as incompetent as the Pakistani ones. Djinn-based chemistry fails again. Rab Director (intelligence wing) Lt Col Ziaul Ahsan, however, said as per the information they have, there is no one named Abu Bakkar Siddique or Shiblu at the helm of the military wing of JMB. "If he is taken in TFI [taskforce interrogation cell] for interrogation, we would be able to confirm the identity," he said. Right before they shoot him ... "Who was that incompetent bomb maker?" asked the awed crowd. Additional SP Zannatul reiterated that they had information that JMB operatives have been regrouping again to carry out subversive activities and Shiblu was the chief of the explosives unit. At least 10 people including eight policemen and Shiblu were injured during the raid at the den on the second floor of a four-storey building at Shahjalalbagh of South Dania. Three other militants escaped by hurling bombs at law enforcers. The police also recovered books on jihad and pamphlets that mentioned the name of executed JMB chief Shaekh Abdur Rahman, sources said. Rab and police sources said executed Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai was the first military wing commander of JMB. After Bangla Bhai became the second-in-command of the militant organisation, JMB chief executed Shaikh Abdur Rahman's brother Ataur Rahman Sunny was given the charge of the military wing. Sunny was arrested on December 14, 2005, and Mizan alias Boma Mizan took over the charge. After Mizan's arrest on May 15, 2009, Shiblu took up the job, said sources. Rab officials said Maulana Saidur Rahman took the outfit's helm after Abdur Rahman and five others were executed in 2006. Those burnt hands suggest the Rab have gotten inside the JMB's training cycle. Well done, lads!

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Bangladesh

Rab starts manhunt for JMB chief

2009-11-03

[Bangla Daily Star] Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) started a manhunt to capture the chief of banned militant organisation Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) Maulana Saidur Rahman and his son Bashar following information gleaned from Saidur's detained wife. Meanwhile, a Dhaka court yesterday placed Saidur's second wife Nurunnahar Himu and her younger brother Muktasim Billah Rubel's wife Asma Mimi on a three-day remand each in a case filed with Sabujbagh Police Station. Rab sources said the two will be taken to Task Force for Interrogation cell. Investigation officer of the case produced them before the court with 10 days' remand prayer following their arrest. The court, however, granted three days' bail. A team of Rab-3 arrested them at their rented house at Mayakanon of the city's Sabujbagh on Sunday. Rab also recovered some papers inscribed with instructions on how to make bombs, explosives circuits, some leaflets and books on Jihad and documents on JMB funds from their possession. Former Habiganj district Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Saidur Rahman has been working as JMB Ameer and his son Abu Talha Mohammad Fahim alias Bashar as the coordinator since the execution of erstwhile JMB chief Abdur Rahman with five other leaders in 2007. I don't know what to say -- there isn't a single Rab encounter in this article.

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Bangladesh

Rab captures six JMB operatives

2009-10-27

[Bangla Daily Star] Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) arrested two majlish-e-shura members and four other operatives of banned Islamist militant organisation Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), busting their dens in Narayanganj, Jamalpur, and Bagerhat early yesterday. Majlish-e-shura is the highest decision making forum of JMB. The two top tier leaders -- Mehedi Hasan alias Abeer, who was in charge of JMB's Khulna division, and Zahirul Islam alias Zahid alias Badal, who was in charge of Dhaka division (north), were arrested from a house at Borpa of Rupganj in Narayanganj. The elite battalion seized one foreign pistol, 19 grenade casings, 20 detonators, other bomb making materials, and some books on jihad from the hideout. Following up on information provided by the two arrestees, another team of Rab intelligence wing launched drives at different places in Jamalpur and arrested Hasan Sheikh, an ehsar member who was in charge of Jamalpur district, and gayre ehsar members Abdul Mazed and Akhtaruzzaman alias Shuruz Master, with four CDs and some books on jihad in their possessions. In a near simultaneous raid Rab arrested the banned organisation's ehsar member also in charge of Bagerhat, Akbar alias Al Amin, from Mollahr Hat in the district. Abeer, a long time JMB member was inducted into majlish-e-shura in 2007 while Badal, a close aide to JMB's current coordinator Bashar, was inducted into the top forum about two months ago, Rab officials said. The officials also said Badal was looking after financial affairs of the organisation since Bashar, son of JMB chief Maulana Saidur Rahman, had stopped looking after the matter about two months ago. "Although we couldn't arrest the JMB chief, we arrested his two close associates. We are hopeful of capturing the Ameer," Rab Director General Hassan Mahmood Khandkar told a media briefing at the battalion's headquarters yesterday. The Rab chief said religious militancy in Bangladesh is effectively under control, but it has not been totally uprooted yet. "We are noticing two things in JMB now, they are trying to increase their organisational strength, and they are preparing to carry out subversive activities in the future," the Rab DG said adding that the banned outfit is currently too weak to carry out any attack. He however added that his battalion is on alert to thwart any such attempt. The arrested Islamist militants were paraded in front of the media at the briefing, but were not allowed to talk. Rab officials said during primary interrogation the two shura members said they were planning to hold a meeting in the capital soon for coming to some decisions regarding strengthening JMB's activities. They also admitted to Rab that they are now looking into use of guns, instead of their traditional penchant for bombs and grenades. The Rab officials claimed that Al Amin was providing financial support to families of arrested JMB members, and was maintaining contacts with jailed operatives of the organisation.

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Bangladesh

Money now rules JMB recruitment

2009-10-25

[Bangla Daily Star] Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh is now providing money along with motivation to entice new recruits in the banned outfit. In the past, only motivation would do the trick but now it has changed its recruitment strategy, said law enforcers dealing with the militants. The dawati (invitation) unit of the outfit first select young simpletons from ultra poor families in rural areas or by visiting mosques. After that the militants get close to the target people and start discussing about Jihad. "If the targets respond positively the JMB operatives start giving them some religious books, particularly those on Jihad. They also give them a certain monthly amount to gain their confidence and slowly make them dependent on the outfit," said a senior official of the Rapid Action Battalion intelligence wing. "At one stage the targets become infatuated with the JMB," he said, adding that some of the recently detained militants told them that the outfit would spend a monthly amount of Tk 500 per target. He, however, could not say exactly how many targets JMB has across the country. Sub-Inspector of Boalia Police Station Hafizur Rahman, who is investigating the case filed following the arrest of seven JMB members in Rajshahi and nearby districts, told The Daily Star that each of the arrestees have so far recruited new members numbering between 30 and 50 before their arrest. The Rab intelligence official said the militant organisation's outgoings for new recruitments are adding to the outfit's other traditional expenditures like organisational and operational costs, living costs of many of its full timers and their family members. The change in the JMB's recruitment strategy has increased the organisation's overall expenditure, the official said adding that alongside JMB's traditional source of income, a few NGOs and charity organisations are suspected to be providing funds to JMB. "We've already got primary information about three to four such NGOs and charity organisations and are trying to get evidences against them," a senior Rab intelligence official told The Daily Star wishing anonymity. He, however, would not give the names of those NGOs and charity organisations before the investigation is over. The traditional sources of JMB funding are its members' contribution, Usl (zakat on harvested crops), Zakat, Fitra, leather of sacrificial cattle and contribution of local and foreign supporter and well-wishers. Besides, counterfeiting of currencies, particularly Indian rupees and US dollars, is also a source of money. JMB also owns some taxicabs and rickshaws from where some more fund is generated, said sources in the law enforcing agencies. "We have so far detected at least one gang involving JMB members in counterfeiting currencies. The gang used to pay the outfit Tk 50,000 per month," said an official at the Special Branch (SB). He, however, said funding from the sources has shrunk significantly following the arrest of the gang members. As an impression of JMB's monthly expenditure the official said during interrogation Zahidul Islam alias Boma Mizan, JMB's military commander, told them that JMB used to provide him Tk 1,200 for food, Tk 1,200 for each of the operatives under him, Tk 11,000 as houses rent, Tk 15,000 annually as pocket money, medical allowance as required time to time and Tk 2,000 as outfit allowance per month. He also told the interrogators that JMB also gave him around Tk 7 lakh in one year to buy bomb-making materials and chemicals before his arrest in May. The sources said the organisation is now bearing all expenses of around 100 key members. Bashar, son of JMB Maulana Saidur Rahman, is now looking after the financial affairs of the organisation and he sends the money to the outfit members. They never transact money through banks. The banned outfit has already started to make their old tested but inactive adherents active. They became inactive due to the drives on the militants after the August17, 2005 synchronised blasts across the country, said sources in the law enforcement agencies. "The JMB is now trying to strengthen its activities. Whatever they do they are under our careful watch and will be brought to book," Director Intelligence of Rab Lt Col Ziaul Ahsan told The Daily Star.

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Bangladesh

Mirpur ammo seizure led to Comilla raid

2008-12-25

Tuesday's busting of two JMB operatives with grenades and bomb in Comilla is another blow at the law enforcers who had a feeling that the militant outfit would not be able soon to organise again after the execution of their key leaders. To their utter dismay, the law enforcers came to know how the operatives of Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh were organising again under the leadership of Maulana Saidur Rahman, the outfit's new ameer after Abdur Rahman's execution in March last year. The recovery of grenades and bomb and arrest of Aiyub Ansari alias Masud and Abdul Alim alias Nayeem was the outcome of an intelligence move based on information disclosed by recently arrested JMB operatives Mohammad Hanif and Rafiqul Islam, officials of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) said. Investigators also came to know from other JMB operatives arrested at different times that Saidur is hiding somewhere in the country and leading the regrouping move as the outfit's chief. Intelligence officials have learnt that Saidur is a former ameer of Habiganj district unit of Jamaat-e-Islami. His son AHM Shamim, chief of JMB's IT unit, was arrested on September 7, 2005 during the crackdown on JMB and is now in jail. "After Abdur Rahman's arrest in Sylhet in March 2006 we came to know that Saidur Rahman helped the JMB chief a lot when he was hiding in the north-eastern district. But we did not know then that Saidur was going to be the next chief of the militant organisation," Col Gulzar Uddin Ahmed, additional director general of Rab, told The Daily Star yesterday. "Shamim was a close aide of Ataur Rahman Sunny [Abdur Rahman's younger brother and chief of JMB's military wing]," Gulzar said. But even after the arrest of Shamim and Sunny in 2005, investigators did not have information on Saidur's involvement with the JMB let alone his status as its next chief. While Abdur Rahman was looking for a safe hideout, Saidur arranged a house for him at Tilagarh in Sylhet town and ensured security, food and "everything he needed" until his arrest, said an intelligence official. A Sylhet court tried Saidur in absentia and in January 2007 sentenced him to 14 years' rigorous imprisonment in an explosives related case. When the Rab mobilised forces in Sylhet looking for him, Saidur went into hiding. The elite force conducted several raids to arrest him but to no avail. "JMB operatives have changed their communication strategy. They now rarely use phone for communication and rather exchange information physically as they used to do just after coming into operation openly," an intelligence official told The Daily Star, requesting anonymity. Hanif, arrested on November 16 in Mirpur with explosives including grenade-making materials, and Rafiq, arrested on October 25 in Shibganj upazila of Chapainawabganj, told investigators about their activities in different areas. "It is certain that they [Hanif and Rafiq] had a plan for subversive activity. But we are yet to know whether they had any plan to lodge any attack on Khaleda Zia's rally or they had other targets," said another Rab official. Meanwhile, Masud and Nayeem were brought to Dhaka yesterday morning for primary interrogation at the Rab headquarters and were taken back to Comilla in the evening. Investigators would interrogate the two if the court places them on remand. Rab men recovered three improvised hand grenades and a 10kg bomb from a JMB den in Nabiabad village under Debidwar upazila of Comilla and arrested the two JMB operatives, around four hour after BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia addressed an election rally 4km away. Two militants Shahed and Mostak managed to flee. A Rab-11 official said their forces defused the grenades and detonated the 10kg bomb recovered on Tuesday. The Rab official said police would seek remand for Masud and Nayeem after they are handed over to Devidwar police. Security was beefed up yesterday in border areas following the arrest of the militants and recovery of explosives in Debidwar. Meanwhile, Rab men recovered two more improvised grenades from a pond and a canal in Nabiadi village early yesterday.

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