Arifur Rahman Rabbi :
The militant organizations in the country so far have been formed with the ideology of some international Islamist groups through keeping with them personal or virtual communication.
Al-Qaeda’s ideology based militant group Ansar al-Islam, known as Ansarullah Bangla Team, was involved in the brutal killings of bloggers, free thinkers and secular activists which had shaken the country with terror from 2013 to 2016.
Besides in, members of other militant groups have not got training in heavy weapons and no experience fighting such as the al-Qaeda ideology Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami Bangladesh (HuJI-B). They have tried to assassinate at least four times Awami League President and current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The last and most horrific attack was the August 21, grenade attack in 2004.
On the other hand, one of the fractions of Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (Neo-JMB) who inspired by Islamic State (IS) ideology, came into wide discussion after the attack on Holy Artisan Bakery in 2016.
After the café siege, law enforcement carried out many high-risk anti-militancy operations in which around 79 militants were killed. Besides, more than 250 militants have been arrested since then.
Although the activities of these militants have not been seen in public, they are active online. Especially at the Covid-19 situation when almost everyone was under house arrest, they continued their work through online.
The CTTC Chief and Additional Commissioner Monirul Islam told the reporter in different programs that law enforcement agencies have dismantled the militant group’s organizational structure. They do not have the ability to make a big attack.
However, they have power of the ‘Lone Wolf’ type attack (attack alone or organized in small groups). They are involved in online campaigns. If there is any incident in the country, it runs an online campaign in the name of IS, he said.
Anti-Terrorism Unit (ATU) arrested 14 militants in January and February. Among them three are from JMB, five from Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), five from Allahr Dal and one from Ansar-al Islam.
Meanwhile, DMP’s Counter Terorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit arrested at least five militants. Among them one is Neo-JMB who came back from Syria, one Ansar-al Islam and three are from HuJI-B.
Beside that Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested 63 militants in January, February and March 7. These militant organizations operate through various branches such as recruitment, media, IT, intelligence and operations. They also have sleeper cells composing maximum five members each.
They are using the app, encrypted messages for communication and sermons on various platforms to attract supporters.
For the time being, Hizb ut-Tahrir has limited its activities to online, poster and leaflet distribution.
Some CTTC officials said while talking about the militant, HuJI-B is now isolated. They do not have the same capabilities as before. However, many members of the HuJI-B have joined Ansar al-Islam and involved in militancy.
The interrogation of some of the militants, who arrested on charges of being involved in various militant attacks with Ansar-al Islam, also revealed that they were members of the HuJI-B.
Ansar al-Islam, meanwhile, is recruiting through online platforms, including Facebook, targeting the needy, even non-Muslims and transgender people, who are never suspected of joining militancy.
Ansar al-Islam has also got a new spiritual leader named Sheikh Tamim Al Adnani. A former madrasa teacher, he is now responsible for reorganising the outfit. Sheikh Tamim’s sermons are published in different platforms to draw potential militants, the sources said.
RAB Legal and Media Wing Director Lt Col Ashik Billah said that the militants do not have the organizational capacity to carry out major attack. However, in recent times, we have seen through various means that the interaction between the militants has increased online due to various reasons including Covid-19 situation. They also got such statement after arrested some militant.
RAB has a specialized team for cyber monitoring, who are constantly monitoring the cyber world. Not only the active and inactive militant groups, but also any suspected things are also under surveillance, he added.
The CTTC and detective officials said that these militant groups are receiving financial support from some businessmen abroad and in the country. Besides, they are also collecting money by robbery, theft and snatching.
The Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s (DMP) Detective Branch (DB) arrested five professional robbers on February 19. Detectives remanded Haddi Morshed, Kabir Hossain Mona, Zahid Sheikh, Arman Hossain and Russell for questioning.
During interrogation, the five robbers revealed the information of a mysterious young man who led the robbery with them. Later, further investigation revealed that the militants were involved with robbery. However, the officials did not agree to reveal the name of the organization for the sake of investigation.
Besides that, the CTTC arrested three members of HuJI-B including its chief of operations Mohammad Mainul Islam alias Mahin alias Mithu alias Hasan from the Jatrabari police station area on March 4. The other two were Sheikh Sohan Saad alias Bara Abdullah and Murad Hossain Kabir.
The CTTC sources said that work was underway to reorganize the organization in 64 districts, prepare a full Shura committee, ensure funding, procure members and weapons and bomb-making equipment, and arrange bail for imprisoned members under Mainul’s leadership.
Mainul was working under the direction of Maulana Abu Sayed, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in the August 21 grenade attack case, and Mehedi Hasan, who was sentenced to life imprisonment of assassination attempt on the then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Kotalipara in the 2000.
Mohammad Saiful Islam, deputy commissioner of the CTTC, told the New Nation that they have received some information about militant involvement in several recent robberies. In the past, militants used to raise funds by robbery and snatching.
Now this trend is going to be noticed again. We are working hard to arrest those militants who have bandits in robbery and to prevent robberies, he said.
