Bangladesh |
JMB offshoot leader Selim arrested |
2009-07-08 |
[Bangla Daily Star] A joint team of Rab and BDR yesterday arrested Selim alias Saifullah, second-in-command and military affairs commander of JMB's new offshoot Islam O Muslim, at Belpara in Chapainawabganj. Selim was arrested after an exchange of gunshots with the forces and he sustained a bullet wound in his leg, said Rab sources. "Feets, don't fail me..BANG!...Ouch!" They also recovered a pistol, nine bullets, three bullet shells and two empty magazines from the scene and his possession. No shutter gun, that'll show up around 4 AM when they take him for a "ride". Immediately after the arrest of Islam O Muslim chief Abdur Rahman alias Shahadat, Selim fled to India. An intelligence agency finding out that he was back in Bangladesh informed Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) that he was hiding at his father-in-law's in Belpara, Shibganj. Rab and Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) team surrounded the house of Selim's in-laws around 1:00pm. Selim fired three shots at the team in a bid to avoid arrest and the team retaliated with five shots. Guess they're better shots. In a press conference last night, Director of Rab-5 Lt Col Israt Hossain said, "Selim, expert in light weaponry, used to collect arms for JMB." He said Rab tracked Selim down based on Boma Mizan's confessional statement. Arrested Islam O Muslim chief Abdur Rahim alias Shahadat and two of his associates also confirmed Selim's position in the new offshoot, said Lt Col Israt. Pliers and truncheons will do that. While describing the arrest, Rab officials said Selim used to go to India frequently. He used to provide Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj JMB and its new offshoot with arms. Ah, I sense a late night trip looking for arms caches in his short future. After the execution of JMB top leaders Shaekh Abdur Rahman and Siddiqul Islam Bangla Bhai, JMB leaders were divided over ideological, economical and different other issues. The Rajshahi Rab chief said, "The divided leaders later formed new outfits and were engaged in recruiting fresh members across the country." Shahadat and Selim were trying to reorganise the inactive JMB members across the country under the new banner of Islam O Muslim, sources said. "Join our team, plenty of spots available for advancement due to unexpected vacancies" Meanwhile, police yesterday arrested Nazmul Haque Tuhin, a convicted JMB member as he came out of Rajshahi Central Jail on a High Court bail. "Naz, nice to see you again. Youse coming with us." Tuhin, 34, of Harail in Joypurhat Sadar, was sent to jail after he surrendered before a court on October 12, 2005. He was later convicted in a case filed in connection with the August 17, 2005 serial blasts and sentenced to 30 years' imprisonment by a Rajshahi court. Talking to the press, Tuhin protested his innocence and said he was framed by a businessman who had strong ties with some rogue policemen. |
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Bangladesh |
8 JMB men charged with Prof Yunus murder at RU |
2009-02-20 |
A Rajshahi court yesterday framed charges against eight operatives of Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) in the long anticipated Rajshahi University (RU) teacher Muhammad Yunus murder case. The second court of Additional District Judge Lutfa Begum framed charges in the murder case in presence of all the eight accused in dock. The accused include Shafiullah Tarek (a follower of militant kingpin Asadullah Al Galib) and Shahidullah Mahbub (husband of the executed JMB leader Siddiqul Islam Bangla Bhai's niece). Both of them were the mastermind behind the murder, say the charges. The other accused are JMB's regional commanders -- Abu Isa Enamul and Golamur Rahman Mostafa, an adherent of Galib's Ahle Hadith Jubo Shangha, militants Abul Kashem Tufan, Abdul Matin, Abdur Rahman Arif and Mojibur Rahman. The framing of charges had been deferred since July last year as some of the accused were being tried in other cases outside Rajshahi. Inspector Mohammad Helauddin of Criminal Investigation Department (CID) submitted the charge sheet against the eight September 10, 2007. In the latest charge sheet, CID police brushed aside previous police findings of Shibir's involvement in the murder though two eyewitnesses in separate judicial statements narrated Shibir cadres' involvement. Names of some 13 accused including six cadres of Islami Chhatra Shibir were dropped in the CID charge sheet. Helaluddin said, the investigation took a new turn following confessional statement of executed JMB chief Abdur Rahman. Later, two prime accused -- Shafiullah Tarek and Shahidullah Mahbub made judicial confessions. Yunus, a professor of economics, was killed on December 24, 2004 while on a morning walk near his Binodhpur residence. He was the president of RU Bangabandhu Parishad and senior vice-president of Bangladesh Economic Association. Abdul Halim, the victim's brother who filed the murder case with Motihar Police Station said, "The murder was pre-planned and occurred over political vengeance." The charges say Yunus was murdered for being an atheist and abettor of underground communist activities. A group of 10 assassins committed the murder of whom Ibrahim died in 2005 while another could not be identified, the charges add. |
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Bangladesh |
Bangladesh's JMB effectively crushed |
2008-08-17 |
![]() This is from Iran Press TV. They seem to have just picked up on the fact. If they'd been reading Rantburg all along they'd have known it. Authorities say since August 17, 2005, the government has cracked down on the Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) after they carried out serial blasts throughout the nation, on one single day killing 28 people and injuring scores of others. The security force launched the crackdown following criticism that Dhaka was turning a blind eye to growing extremism. Turned out certain members of the government had been in cahoots with them, since they had the same Islamic goals... According to Hasan Mahmud Khandaker, security head of Bangladesh's Rapid Action Battalion, the government is confident that this terrorist group can pose no more threats as at least 1,000 of its members have been arrested. I'd guess 900 of them are dupes, pawns, cannon fodder, and innocent bystanders. The actual organization was pretty much a clan affair. He added that they have successfully dealt with. And there's the secret to dismantling a terror organization: Hang all the ones you don't shoot. Over the last two years bomb attacks have become a rarity. The disintegration of JMB though not yet complete, has seen the group "very much under control", Khandaker said after a Bengali-language newspaper Prothom Alo warned the JMG was regrouping. The large-scale arrests of JMB guerrillas have blunted its influence. Rebel leader Sheikh Abdur Rahman and his deputy Siddiqul Islam Bangla Bhai are in state custody, while six senior rebels were executed last year after a court sentenced them to death for killing two judges, AFP quoted Khandaker as saying. That's the first we've heard of Abdur Rahman and Bangla Bhai still being alive. Supposedly they had their necks stretched on March 29th of last year. |
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Bangladesh | |
Trial of three cases against JMB cadres resumes | |
2008-02-16 | |
Trial of three out of the five cases relating to series bomb blasts on August 17 in 2005 began on Thursday as the court recorded the statements of three prosecution witnesses of the cases. The court fixed tomorrow for next hearing of the cases. Judge Mahbubul Alam of Additional District and Sessions Judge's Court at Satkhira recorded the statements of the three complainants of the five cases in presence of 11 out of 19 charge-sheeted accused. Accused Nasir uddin Dafadar, Monowar Hossain Ujjal, Maniruzzaman Munna, Nur Ali Member, Anisur Rahman Khokon, Gias Uddin, Mahbubur Rahman Liton, Billal Hossain, Asadul Haque, Ismail alias Habibur and Rakib Hasan Russel alias Hafez Mahmud were produced before the court. Rakib Hasan Russel, a teacher of Baluaghata Girls High School in Jamalpur, was brought from Mymensing to Satkhira jail as he was awarded death sentence in another case and was detained there. Five charge-sheeted accused -- Montaz alias Momtaz, Abul Khair, Fakar Uddin, Nayeem and Syed alias Asaduzzaman -- have been absconding while banned Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) chief Shaikh Abdur Rahman, JMJB chief Siddiqul Islam Bangla Bhai and JMB military chief Ataur Rahman Sunny were excluded earlier in a murder case. Soon after simultaneous blasts at five places in the town on August 17 in 2005, police filed the five cases with Sadar Police Station. Pickpocket Rawshan Ali, who was standing on the premises of Women and Children Repression Prevention Court on August 17 in 2005, saw Nasir Uddin Dafadar leaving a bag there and it blasted five minutes later. Rawshan informed the police of the matter that eventually led to the unearthing of JMB's involvement in August 17 blasts. The investigation officer of the cases, Assistant Superintendent of Police Munshi Atiqur Rahman of the Criminal Investigation Department submitted on April 4 in 2006 charge sheet against 19 people. | |
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Bangladesh | |
7 JMB cadres surrender in Rangpur | |
2007-06-15 | |
![]() Police later showed the seven surrendered militants arrested under section 54 before a magistrate's court in Rangpur. The arrestees were sent to Rangpur Central Jail yesterday afternoon. The JMB militants are Azizul Islam, 22, Azaharul Islam, 22, Johurul Islam, 23, Abdul Baten, 20, and Foyjul Islam, 19, of Kuribishwa under Kolkond union and Ashiqul Islam, 24, and Ibrahim Khalil, 27 of Boraibari under Alambiditor union. Sources said the guardians of the JMB men accompanied them to Gangachara Police Station around 9:00am along with union parishad chairmen of their area.
Quoting statements of the JMB men he said Shafiqul Islam, a teacher of a registered non-government primary school at Changmari, had persuaded them to joining JMB with the aim to establish Islamic rule in the country. Realising their error, the JMB men surrendered to police, as they wanted to lead normal lives, Rashid said quoting the militants. The OC said, "We are looking for allegations filed against them with any police station in the country." CHARGE FRAMED AGAINST JMB CADRE Additional Public Prosecutor (APP) Mijanur Rahman submitted the charge sheet against JMB cadre Obaidullah Sumon before the Third Additional Sessions Judge's Court in Kishoreganj in connection with the six blasts in Kishoreganj on August 17, 2005. In the charge sheet, JMB chief Abdur Rahman and Bangla Bhai were mentioned as planners of the attacks but acquitted as they were executed, our Kishoreganj correspondent reports. Sumon was arrested in possession of explosive gel, detonator and explosives at a mosque of Gurui in Nikli upazila in Kishoreganj on September 22, 2005. He is serving a 17-year imprisonment in Kishoreganj Central Jail in an explosives case. | |
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Bangladesh |
Charges framed against Bangla Bhai's wife, 3 JMB men |
2007-05-08 |
![]() This is the first time a charge has been framed against Fahima. Eight people were killed and 50 others injured in a suicide bomb blast in front of Netrakona Udichi office on December 8 in 2005. |
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Bangladesh | |||
8 top JMB militants indicted for murder of judges | |||
2006-04-24 | |||
![]() As Additional District and Sessions Judge Reza Tarique Ahmed asked Shaikh Rahman about his involvement in the killings, he quipped, "The two judges were killed in the district as per instructions of Allah."
The charge was framed when the eight were produced before the court today (Sunday) morning amid tight security. A total of 175 police and over 100 RAB members were deployed on the court premises. Shaikh Abdur Rahman, Siddiqul Islam Bangla Bhai and Ataur Rahman Sunny were brought to the court from Dhaka under RAB protection today while the rest were brought and kept in the district jail on Saturday for producing them before the court. The court fixed April 26 for next hearings in the judges murder case. Depositions will start from the same date. Ataur Rahman Sunny, Abdul Awal and Iftekhar Hasan Al Mamun admitted to having been involved in the incident, but Bangla Bhai and Sultan Hossain Khan pleaded not guilty. Senior Assistant Judges Sohel Ahmed and Jagannath Pandey were killed when JMB suicide bomber Iftekhar Hasan Al Mamun allegedly set off a powerful bomb on their vehicle on November 14 last year. | |||
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Bangladesh |
Lawyers throw shoes at Rahman in court |
2006-04-19 |
![]() Rahman, Bangla Bhai, Abdul Awal and Ataur Rahman Sunny were brought from Dhaka and Mamun and Sultan from Barisal Central Jail to Jhalakathi District and Sessions Judge Court for the Jhalakathi judges killing case. |
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Bangladesh |
BB asks banks to report on militants' accounts |
2006-03-29 |
Bangladesh Bank (BB) has sent a list of 68 militants to all the commercial banks to find if they have any bank accounts, sources said. The central bank asked the banks to report within April 6 all sorts of transactions in detail if any bank account is found in their names. Sources in the BB said the list, which was sent early this week, bears the addresses of some of the arrested and suspected militants. The central bank gathered the names and addresses from newspaper reports. The list includes names of banned militant outfit Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) chief Abdur Rahman, his second-in-command Siddiqul Islam Bangla Bhai, Ataur Rahman Sunny, Abdul Awal, Obaidur Rahman, Shakil alias Mollah Omar and Hridoy Chowdhury. High officials of a number of banks however pointed out that it will be very difficult to find out if there is any bank account in the name of any militant as the BB could not provide addresses against all the names. |
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Bangladesh | ||
Hunt on to net two JMB leaders on the run | ||
2006-03-17 | ||
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The government is preparing a list of the financiers who provided money to the Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) cadres to run the activities of the organisation in the country in a bid to establish what they call the rule of Allah. Meanwhile, law enforcement agencies are closely watching the movement of some 25 influential persons as they got their names by tapping phone calls. Requesting anonymity, a highly placed source having connection with intelligence agencies said there were some high-profile politicians and businessmen in the list adding that the big fishes were under strict intelligence watch and would be arrested after getting green signal from the government. In the first phase of remand, Shaikh Abdur Rahman told the Task Force Intelligence (TFI) personnel that JMB collected 10,000 pounds sterling | ||
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Bangladesh |
Wanted JMB militants hiding in Sundarbans |
2006-03-13 |
Rapid Action Battalion (Rab), police and other law enforcing agencies are preparing to launch a special combing operation in some areas of the Sundarbans to bust hideouts of Islamic militants. Wanted Islamist militants are hiding in the deep forest after arrest of JMB kingpins Abdur Rahman and Siddiqul Islam Bangla Bhai, according to intelligence sources. On June 17, 2001, Koira police in Khulna arrested six Islamist militants from the Sundarbans. They were Hafez Nuruzzaman alias Pintu Molla of Jessore, Abu Zafor alias Mehedi Hasan, Mohiuddin, Arif Hossain and Mostafa Kamal of Faridpur and Syed Mohammad Alam of Kushtia. They told police during interrogation that there were several secret camps in the forest where madrasa students were trained for a Taliban-style movement in the country. Charge sheets against the six militants were submitted to court on July 1, 2001. Charges against them were framed on December 18 in 2002. But magistrate Abdur Rahman of Koira upazila court dismissed the case on the same day. Later, the case docket was allegedly stolen from the court. The six arrested militants also told police that Abdur Rahman and Bangla Bhai visited the camps in Sundarbans at least thrice between 2001 and 2002 to monitor military training of 20 recruited madrasa students loyal to Islami Chatra Shibir. This information was given by the six arrestes during interrogation. Abdur Rahman and Bangla Bhai were helped by a section of officials in Koira to damage merit of several other cases. These led to establishment of JMB strongholds inside the Sundarbans, the intelligence sources said. |
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Bangladesh | |
Abdur Rahman "Confesses" | |
2006-03-10 | |
![]() The banned Islamic outfit used to collect explosives, bomb-making materials and firearms through smuggling and JMB commanders of northern region were assigned to collect those, one RAB official told journalists, quoting from the confessions of Shaikh Abdur Rahman. At an impromptu press briefing in the Police Headquarters This (Thursday) evening, the disclosures were made following weeklong interrogation of the JMB supremo, held on March 2. Second-in-command of the JMB and operations commander of a twin-outfit, JMJB, Siddiqul Islam Bangla Bhai was also captured three days after his arrest, on March 6. Injured during the operation, his health conditions didnt yet permit interrogation. He is under treatment in BDR hospital. Additional Inspector General of Police Anwarul Iqbal, Director General of RAB Abdul Aziz Sarker and Director of the intelligence wing of RAB Lt Colonel Gulzar Uddin Ahmed replied to different questions. Explaining the reasons for calling the press conference, Additional IGP Anwarul Iqbal said that their attention was drawn to news reports published in different dailies regarding the arrest of Shaikh Abdur Rahman and Bangla Bhai and their disclosures got from the interrogation. Shaikh Abdur Rahman is being interrogated by the Task Force Intelligence (TFI)nobody else is allowed to question him, he informed the press. ![]() The police official called upon the journalists to contact concerned people for accurate information before filing a report to avoid confusions. He requested doing neutral, objective and constructive report instead of writing confusing reports quoting RAB officials. Replying to a question, RAB Director General Abdul Aziz Sarker said that the Rapid Action Battalion is conducting operations to arrest the rest of the JMB operatives and to recover their explosives and firearms.
JMB collected 10,000 pounds sterling from two Saudi (friends), and the rest of the funds from bank dacoity, NGO office loot, Jakat and other sources, Lt Colonel Gulzar quoted Shaikh Rahman as saying during quizzing. He said that they were also investigating how the funding was channeled. Replying to a question, Gulzar said that Shaikh Abdur Rahman assigned northern-region commanders of JMB, including Ataur Rahman Sunny and Abdul Awal, both Majlis-e-Shura members of JMB, to collect explosives and firearms through smuggling. Shaikh Rahman ordered the killing of DR Humayun Azad of Dhaka University and Prof Yunus of Rajshahi University, he said on the basis of Rahmans reported confessional statements. BDNews adds: Dacoities and bank robberies as well as money came from foreign connections were the main financial sources JMB. The JMB also used to mobilise funds from `Zakat' and `Fitra' as well as other donations. Replying to queries, RAB director general Abdul Aziz Sarkar and additional IGP Anwarul Iqbal said that they are yet to get any link between the JMB and arms and ammunitions recovered in Chittagong and Bogra. They said that charge-sheets in the cases have already been submitted, but "we will inform you if any link is found following interrogating Abdur Rahman". Asked whether Rahman admitted their involvement in Udichi and Ramna blasts, Gulzar told BDNEWS that the interrogators are yet to question on the matters. He informed that they are now emphasising on conducting operation to root out the JMB while the details investigation will be carried out later on. "After the conclusion of operational activities, we would go into investigation side," said RAB chief Abdul Aziz Sarkar. The RAB is yet to start questioning JMB's second-in-command, Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai, who is undergoing treatment at a hospital in the capital. | |
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