| |
SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 14, No. 46, May 16, 2016
Data and
assessments from SAIR can be freely published in any form
with credit to the South Asia Intelligence Review of the
South Asia Terrorism Portal
|
Assam:
'Jihadi' Threats
Nijeesh
N.
Research
Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management
Amidst
ongoing insurgent activities of various ethnic armed groups
(EAGs) and the political unrest during the just concluded
State Assembly elections, Assam faces a growing Islamist
terrorist threat from within, from neighboring States,
as well as from bordering countries.
On May
12, 2016, four extremists belonging to the Muslim Tiger
Force of Assam (MTFA), identified as Ismail Ali, Mohidul
Islam, Mouizinur Ahmed and Saiyyuddin Islam were arrested
during a search operation carried out by the Army and
Assam Police at Abhayapuri in Bongaigaon District. Three
firearms, including a stolen 'licensed' factory-made pistol
and two country-made pistols, were recovered from the
militants who are suspected to be supplying arms to Muslim
extremist groups active in the region. According to Police
sources, the militants were involved in several cases
of extortion and kidnapping.
On April
20, 2016, the Chirang Police arrested seven suspected
cadres of Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB)
from two different areas in the Chirang District of Assam.
Five of them were arrested from the Dawkanagar area; another
two, including the imam (prayer leader) of Rajapara
Masjid (mosque), were arrested from the Amguri
area. Bodoland Territorial Area District (BTAD) Inspector
General of Police (IGP) L.R. Bishnoi stated, “All these
jihadis were operating in Assam under Bangladesh-based
jihadi module JMB. They had set up a camp for imparting
physical training and there were plans to impart arms
training later. Two people came from West Bengal to impart
training to the jihadis here. We have got their
names and addresses and we are in touch with our counterparts
in West Bengal to arrest them”. He also disclosed, "After
the police busted a training camp in Dawkanagar in September
2015, initial probe pointed to the presence of at least
28 jihadi cadres in the area. But with the latest
arrests, the total number of arrested jihadi cadres
shot up to 29 and interrogation revealed that at least
seven others are on the run." He added that the numbers
may go up further.
On April
17, 2016, the Kokrajhar and Chirang Police, in a joint
operation, arrested four suspected jihadis, from
three different locations in Kokrajhar District. A grenade,
a revolver, seven rounds of M20 ammunition, two army camouflage
dresses and five mobile phones were recovered from their
possession. Later it was found that the arrestees were
part of a JMB module that was planning to train local
Muslims at a camp in Daukhanagar village in Chirang District
to launch attacks on cadres of the National Democratic
Front of Bodoland (NDFB)
and local Bodos. Assam has a history of bitter clashes
between Muslims and Bodos in the BTAD area. The latest
of such clashes were reported in May 2014, when 46 Muslim
settlers were slaughtered.
On April
6, 2016, the Army, in a joint search operation with Dhubri
Police, arrested one MTFA terrorist, Mohammad Sahidul
Islam Miah, from Rupsi near Basbari in Dhubri District.
According
to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism
Portal (SATP), at least 22 Islamist extremists, including
12 JMB, six MTFA, one Islamic State of Iraq and Syria
(ISIS) and three whose affiliations were unidentified,
have been arrested thus far in 2016 (data till May 15,
2016). In 2015, 57 Islamic terrorists were arrested, including
20 JMB cadres, 19 MTFA cadres, 10 Muslim United Liberation
Tigers of Assam (MULTA)
cadres, one cadre each of Muslim Liberation Army (MLA)
and Peoples United Liberation Front (PULF), and six whose
affiliations were not identified. State Parliamentary
Affairs Minister Rockybul Hussain informed the State Assembly
on December 15, 2014, that between January 2001 to November
2014, a total of 130 Islamist extremists, including 106
MULTA militants, 14 Harakat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM) militants,
and 10 JMB militants, were arrested in the State.
A majority
of the Islamist militant groups in Assam were founded
between 1990 and 1996 with the prime objective of safeguarding
the ‘overall interests’ of the minority Muslim communities
in the region. According to SATP, at least 20 Islamist
terror formations have operated in Assam at different
periods. On December 8, 2015, Rockybul Hussain informed
the State Assembly that three Islamist militant groups,
MULTA, JMB and HuM, were presently active in the State.
Assam for
long has been threatened by Pakistan’s Inter Services
Intelligence (ISI)-backed Islamist
extremist groups. The accidental
blast in a rented house at Khagragarh
in Burdwan (West Bengal) on October 2, 2014, in which
two JMB militants were killed and another was injured,
and the subsequent investigation by the National Investigation
Agency (NIA) in the case, opened a Pandora’s Box after
the NIA took over the case on October 10, 2014. According
to the NIA charge sheet filed on March 30, 2015, and a
subsequent supplementary charge sheet dated July 23, 2015,
the NIA has charged 27 persons, including two persons
from Assam. Of the 27 charge sheeted persons, 16 have
so far been arrested, of which two have been arrested
from Assam. Another nine persons, who have not been charge
sheeted, have also been arrested, two among them from
Assam.
The NIA
claimed that, during the course of investigations, it
had been found that operatives of JMB had established
their networks in different parts of the country, including
Assam, and “were engaged in preparation of bombs, ammunition/arms,
maintaining hideouts and organizing terrorist training
camps in pursuance of a larger conspiracy to organise
terrorist attacks in different parts of India and in Bangladesh.”
One of the charge sheeted persons, Lal Mohammed aka
Ibrahim, a JMB cadre arrested by Jharkhand Police on April
18, 2015 (NIA officially arrested him on April 27, 2015),
reportedly revealed to interrogators that JMB’s sabotage
plans in Assam were to counter Bodo ‘aggression’.
Significantly,
on September 16, 2015, the Chirang District Police and
Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) busted an Islamic
fundamentalist ‘training camp’ and arrested three suspects,
seizing weapons which were being used to train cadres
in the camp in Daukhanagar. Later, the Police confirmed
that the arrested persons were associated with the JMB
and that MULTA was the brain behind the training camp.
Intelligence Bureau (IB) reports also suggested that JMB
uses MULTA as the umbrella organization of various jihadi
elements in Assam to carry out organizational activities,
including collecting money, imparting basic motivational
training and brainwashing youth who are willing to join.
Meanwhile,
reports indicated that a new jihadi formation,
MTFA was formed to take 'revenge’ for the massacre
of Muslims in the BTAD in May 2014.
Though specific details about the outfit are not available
in the open source, according to the SATP database, at
least 25 MTFA militants have been arrested so far. The
first reported arrest took place on March 13, 2015, when
a MTFA militant, identified as Anwar Hussain was arrested
from Jalabila in the Kokrajhar District. According to
Army sources, Anwar Hussain was involved in procurement
of arms and had plans to create violence during the Bodoland
Territorial Council (BTC) elections, which were held in
April 2015.
Major global
Islamist terrorist groups such as al Qaeda and IS are
also reportedly eying the region. Notably, at the time
of its formation in September 2014, Al Qaeda in the Indian
Subcontinent (AQIS) had specifically mentioned Assam as
its target, along with Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir.
Similarly, IS in its ‘world dominion map’ has covered
Assam among other parts of India. Although there are no
visible signs of presence of these terror formations in
the State, rising interest in the IS through Internet
is a disturbing aspect. The then Director General of Police
(DGP) of Assam Khagen Sarma had stated on September 29,
2015, “Assam has religious fundamentalists and that has
generated a lot of interest in the ISIS. Hits in the Internet
photos of ISIS is very high in Assam". Moreover,
a suspected IS operative, identified as Suman Aziz Laskar,
was arrested from Silchar Medical College (SMC) in Cachar
District on February 6, 2016. Following recent
incidents of killings of secularist
activists/writers/bloggers by suspected Islamist terrorists
in Bangladesh, the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs
in India, Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary, informed the
Rajya Sabha (Upper House of Indian Parliament)
on April 27, 2016, that Indian security agencies were
also concerned about possible attacks by the Islamic State
in two bordering Indian States, Assam and West Bengal.
In addition,
subsequent to the arrests and recovery of arms across
BTAD between April 17 and 20, 2016, it has come to light
that jihadi forces in lower Assam Districts were
trying to establish links with arms smugglers of Nagaland
and Myanmar to gain direct access to the underground market
of sophisticated arms. Though the State Police have not
officially confirmed this possible nexus between jihadi
modules and other ethnic militant outfits of the region,
it was reported that some gunrunners in the Barak Valley
were helping Islamist extremist modules secure access
to the clandestine arms market in neighboring countries
like Myanmar. In recent years, Assam has recorded a steep
hike in cases registered in connection with the Illegal
arms smuggling. State Police
records shows that, while 492 cases
were registered under the Arms Act in the state in 2010,
the number rose to 511 in 2015.
Besides,
large scale illegal flow of substantial amounts of money
from the Middle Eastern countries to Assam through Kerala
has also becomes a major cause of concern for security
agencies in the State. According to an April 24, 2016,
report, security agencies had identified some religious
organisations in the Districts of Morigaon and Nagaon
in Assam, which may have received such illegally transferred
money. Though the exact reasons for such huge transfers
of funds are yet to be ascertained, security agencies
suspect that some unscrupulous persons might be using
this money for indoctrination and radicalization. Considering
its ‘least developed region’ status in the State, the
lower Assam region, especially the BTC areas, could also
be a soft target for Islamist extremist elements. Police
also confirmed that recently arrested JMB members were
not planning any major action in Assam as yet, and were
concentrating mostly on recruiting from lower Assam Districts
and creating a base in Assam for future operations.
The demographic
transition in the State and the problem
of the influx of illegal Bangladeshi migrants further
complicates the situation. Though the Government has started
the process of updating the National Register of Citizens
(NRC) data on February 27, 2015, to identify those who
illegally entered Assam after 1971, implementation has
been sluggish. Moreover, Union Minister of State for Home
Affairs Kiren Rijiju, on May 10, 2016, informed the Rajya
Sabha that, “at least 43,000 Bangladeshi nationals,
who entered India on valid documents, have vanished during
the last four years, whereas only 19,995 could be deported
during the same period.” According to him, “In Assam,
the detection and deportation of illegal migrants are
done through the Foreigners Tribunals established under
the provision of Foreigners Tribunal Act, 1946. Altogether
100 Foreigners Tribunals are working at present towards
detection and deportation of illegal migrants in Assam”.
Though
Assam has seen a steady decline in insurgency-related
violence after 2014, the recent spurt in jihadi
activities and the nexus between jihadi elements
and ethnic militant groups in the region make the security
situation in the State vulnerable. At a juncture when
pan-Islamist terrorist networks are trying to make inroads
into Bangladesh, with which the region shares a vast and
“porous” border, extreme vigilance on the part of both
the State Government as well the Centre, to strengthen
security along the border, is necessary.
|
Executing
the Designer of Death
S.
Binodkumar Singh
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management
On May
11, 2016, Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) amir (chief) Motiur
Rahman Nizami (75), who masterminded the formation of
the ruthless militia Al Badr that unleashed terror against
Bengalis erstwhile East Pakistan, killed unarmed civilians,
raped women and destroyed properties during the Liberation
War of 1971, was executed at Dhaka Central Jail. Nizami
was sentenced to death
on October 29, 2014, by the International Crimes Tribunal-1
(ICT-1) after being found guilty on eight of the 16
charges brought against him. The four
charges which brought him the death penalty included involvement
in the killing of intellectuals; the murder of 450 civilians,
and the rape of 30 to 40 women in Bausgari and Demra villages
in Pabna District; the killing of 52 people in Dhulaura
village in Pabna District; and the killing of 10 persons
and rape of three women in Karamja village in Pabna District.
He was also sentenced to imprisonment for life on the
charges of involvement in the killing of Kasim Uddin and
two others in Pabna District; torture and murder of Sohrab
Ali of Brishalikha village in Pabna District; torture
and killing at Mohammadpur Physical Training Centre in
Dhaka city; and killing of freedom fighters Rumi, Bodi,
Jewel and Azad at Old MP Hostel in Dhaka city.
Nizami
had served as Minister of Agriculture in the then Bangladesh
Nationalist Party (BNP)-led coalition Government between
2001 and 2006. He is the fourth JeI leader to have been
hanged for war crimes, after JeI Assistant Secretary Abdul
Quader Mollah (65), known as ‘Mirpurer
Koshai (Butcher of Mirpur), who was hanged at Dhaka Central
Jail on December 12, 2013; JeI Senior Assistant Secretary
General Muhammad
Kamaruzzaman (63), the third most
senior figure in the JeI, who was hanged at Dhaka Central
Jail on April 11, 2015, and JeI Secretary General
Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed
(67) who was hanged simultaneously with BNP Standing Committee
member Salauddin Quader Chowdhury (66) at Dhaka Central
Jail on November 22, 2015.
On May
3, 2016, ICT-1 sentenced
Gazi Abdul Mannan (88), Nasiruddin Ahmed (62), Shamsuddin
Ahmed (60) and Hafiz Uddin (66) to death; and Azharul
Islam (60) to jail until death. They were all members
of JeI. Seven charges were brought against them and the
court found them guilty on all charges. On the first charge,
the killing of eight people in Karimganj on November 12,
1971, Shamsuddin, Nasiruddin and Mannan were awarded the
death penalty, while Hafiz and Azharul were awarded jail
until death. Nasiruddin was the lone accused on the second
charge of the killing of Miah Hossain of Ayla village
on November 13, 1971. On the third charge, Hafiz was given
the death sentence, while Shamsuddin, Nasiruddin and Azharul
were awarded jail until death, for the abduction and killing
of Abdur Gafur of Kalatali on September 26, 1971. All
the five were awarded jail until death for the abduction,
torture and killing of Fazlur Rahman of Atkapara on August
23, 1971, the fourth charge. Shamsuddin received the death
penalty on the fifth charge, the killing of Paresh Chandra
Sarkar of Ramnagar on September 7, 1971. According to
the sixth charge, Mannan was involved in the torture and
killing of Abu Bakar Siddique and Rapali Miah on August
25, 1971, and the tribunal handed down a sentence of imprisonment
until death. Mannan was also given five years' rigorous
imprisonment on the seventh charge of arson and vandalism
in Atkapara on September 15, 1971.
On February
2, 2016, ICT-1 sentenced
to death Obaidul Haque aka Taher (66), an activist
of the Nezam-e-Islam (NeI) and Ataur Rahman aka Noni
(62), an activist of the Muslim League (ML) for killing
seven persons on October 19, 1971, and for killing another
six after abducting and torturing them on November 15
and 16, 1971. They were also sentenced to imprisonment
until death for killing Liberation War organizer Fazlur
Rahman Talukder, and looting and setting on fire Baushi
Bazar on August 17, 1971; and for killing Dabir Hossain
on October 4, 1971 after abducting and torturing him.
Both were acquitted on two other charges which include
grabbing the houses of Moloy Biswas and Shrish Chandra
Sarkar and ‘deporting’ their family members in mid-May
1971, and for killing 15 persons including teacher Kamini
Chakrabarty in early October 1971.
It is useful
to recall that, the Sheikh Hasina Wajed led-Government
constituted the ICT-1 on March 25, 2010, with the objective
of bringing the perpetrators of War Crimes to justice,
and subsequently, ICT-2 on March 22, 2012, to speed up
the War Crimes Trials. So far, the two ICTs have indicted
57 leaders, including 37 from JeI, seven from the ML,
five from NeI, four from BNP, two from Pakistan Democratic
Party (PDP) and two from the Jatiya Party (JP). Verdicts
against 31 of these indicted leaders have already been
delivered – 23 were awarded the death sentence while the
remaining eight received life sentences. Five of the 23,
including Nizami, who received the death sentence, have
already been executed, while 18 other cases are currently
pending with the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court.
As in earlier
cases, JeI called a countrywide 24-hour hartal (general
strike) on May 11, 2016, protesting the execution of its
party chief Motiur Rahman Nizami. Earlier, JeI, on May
5, 2016, had called for a countrywide 24-hour hartal,
denouncing the Supreme Court’s order that upheld Nizami’s
death sentence. However, unlike previous
hartals called by JeI, protesting
against war crimes’ verdicts against party leaders, which
had resulted in massive street violence, these two protests
were largely ignored across the country and no major
acts of violence were reported. Nevertheless, there were
a few minor incidents, such as the May 11, 2016, protest
by cadres of JeI-Islami Chhatra Shibir (
ICS) who hurled
bricks at the Police during a clash at Chawkbazar Parade
Ground in Chittagong city over a gayebana namaz-e-janaza
(funeral prayer in absentia) for Nizami. Some 5,000 JeI-ICS
cadres participated in the janaza led by Chittagong
city unit JeI chief Shamshul Islam. Security Forces (SFs)
managed to disperse the JeI-ICS cadres by firing blank
shots. No one was injured in the incident. Further, on
May 12, 2016, Police arrested 28 JeI-ICS cadres in connection
with vandalism, arson and sabotage activities, including
16 from Bogra District, five from Chittagong District,
four from Barisal District, two from Cox's Bazar and one
from Gaibandha District.
However,
the trend of targeting intellectuals/ activists/ secularists/
or alleged ‘apostates’/ ‘blasphemers’, which commenced
after the Shahbagh
Movement of February 2013 seeking
the death penalty for War Criminals of the 1971 genocide,
appears to be escalating. 12 persons were killed in 2013;
four persons in 2014; and nine in 2015. Disturbingly,
since the beginning of the 2016, 11 intellectuals/ activists/
secularists/ or alleged ‘apostates’/ ‘blasphemers’ have
already been killed across the country by suspected Islamist
terrorists. In the latest of the series of such killings,
on May 6, 2016, Mohammad Shahidullah (65), a pir (revered
religious instructor, usually of Sufi orientation) was
hacked to death at Jumarpara village of Tanore upazila
(sub-district) in Rajshahi District. Further, on May 14,
2016, Mawng Shoi Wuu (70), a Buddhist monk was found dead
with his throat-slit with a sharp weapon at a small monastery
at Baishari of Naikhyangchari upazila in Bandarban
District. Earlier, nine others
were killed across the country by suspected Islamist terrorists.
Significantly, out of the 11 murders in 2016, Daesh
(Islamic State, formerly the Islamic State of Iraq and
al Sham) claimed responsibility for six. Meanwhile, Ansar
al-Islam (Sword of Islam), the purported Bangladesh
branch of al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS),
claimed ‘credit’ for another three. No group has yet claimed
the remaining two killings.
The Shiekh
Hasina Wajed Government has, however, blamed the BNP-JeI
nexus for these incidents, describing them as ‘secret
killings’, after the failure of the Opposition to topple
the Government. Prime Minister Wajed thus declared, on
April 30, 2016, “The BNP-Jamaat clique does not want development
of the people. They cannot give anything except burning
people to death and destruction. They have chosen the
path of killing teachers and common people selectively.”
Rejecting
the Prime Minister’s claim, BNP Secretary General Mirza
Fakhrul Islam Alamgir stated, on May 13, 2016, “BNP wants
trial of those who committed crimes against humanity during
our Liberation War. But the trial will have to be held
in a transparent manner, ensuring international standard.”
With the
hanging of JeI chief Nizami, the Awami League (AL)-led
Government has once again reaffirmed its determination
to honour its 2008 General Election pledge to bring the
War Criminals of the 1971 genocide to justice. The achievements
on this count are already remarkable, but, the frequent
attacks on liberals, secularists and minorities across
the country threaten the tenuous stability that has been
achieved in the country. The trials themselves have deepened
the polarization in the country between those intent of
defending the secular identity asserted through the 1971
Independence movement, and those who seek to introduce
a Government purportedly based on ‘Islamic’ principles.
This rift presents a growing challenge for the Hasina
Wajed regime.
|
Weekly Fatalities: Major
Conflicts in South Asia
May
9 - 15, 2016
|
Civilians
|
Security
Force Personnel
|
Terrorists/Insurgents
|
Total
|
BANGLADESH
|
|
Islamist Terrorism
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
Left-wing
Extremism
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
BANGLADESH
(Total)
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
3
|
INDIA
|
|
Assam
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
Jammu and
Kashmir
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
Left-Wing
Extremism
|
|
Chhattisgarh
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
Maharashtra
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
Total (INDIA)
|
0
|
2
|
5
|
7
|
PAKISTAN
|
|
Balochistan
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
2
|
KP
|
5
|
1
|
0
|
6
|
Punjab
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
Sindh
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
Total (PAKISTAN)
|
|
|
|
|
Provisional
data compiled from English language media sources.
|
BANGLADESH
JeI
amir
Motiur
Rahman
Nizami
executed
at
Dhaka
Central
Jail
for
war
crimes
committed
during
Liberation
War:
Jamaat-e-Islami
(JeI)
amir
(chief)
Motiur
Rahman
Nizami
(75),
the
kingpin
of
notorious
Al-Badr
force
and
second
top
collaborator
of
the
Pakistani
occupation
forces
after
former
JeI
amir
Ghulam
Azam,
was
executed
at
Dhaka
Central
Jail
at
12:10am
on
May
11.
On
October
29,
2014,
International
Crimes
Tribunal-1
(ICT-1)
sentenced
Nizami
to
death
for
planning,
instigating
and
executing
genocide,
murder,
rape
and
deportation
among
other
crimes
in
Pabna
and
Dhaka
during
the
1971
Liberation
War.
Nizami
is
the
fifth
war
criminal
and
fourth
JeI
leader
to
have
been
hanged
for
war
atrocities.
Dhaka
Tribune,
May
12,
2016.
BNP
in
favour
of
war
crimes
trial
if
held
in
free
and
fair
manner,
says
BNP
Secretary
General
Mirza
Fakhrul
Islam
Alamgir:
Bangladesh
Nationalist
Party
(BNP)
supports
war
crimes
trials
if
it
is
held
without
any
political
intention
and
in
a
free
and
fair
manner,
BNP
Secretary
General
Mirza
Fakhrul
Islam
Alamgir
said
on
May
13.
Fakhrul
at
the
press
briefing
also
announced
that
the
party
will
hold
protest
programmes
on
May
15
and
16
demanding
the
withdrawal
of
the
cases
filed
against
the
party
Chairperson
Khaleda
Zia.
This
was
the
first
reaction
of
the
party
after
the
execution
of
Motiur
Rahman
Nizami,
ameer
of
the
Jamaat-e-Islami
(JeI),
who
was
hanged
on
May
10,
2016,
for
crimes
against
humanity
that
he
committed
during
the
country's
Liberation
War
in
1971.
Daily
Star,
May
13,
2016.
INDIA
IS
global
recruiters
set
sights
on
India,
says
report:
Disclosures
of
recently-arrested
Islamic
State
(IS)
recruits
revealed
that
group's
global
headhunters,
including
women
from
Argentina,
Sri
Lanka
and
Philippines,
are
on
the
prowl
for
Indian
youth
who
show
any
leanings
to
radical
views
on
social
media,.
Sources
said
the
three
women
identify
themselves
as
Karen
from
Philippines,
Fatima
from
Argentina
and
Eje
from
Sri
Lanka.
Also,
Counter-terror
agencies
are
closely
monitoring
nearly
25
motivators,
mostly
from
outside
India,
who
are
looking
for
potential
recruits
and
then
indoctrinating
them
on
social
media.
The
details
of
their
functioning
have
been
told
to
investigators
by
IS
inspired
Indians
in
their
interrogation
to
the
National
Investigation
Agency
(NIA).
India
Today,
May
13,
2016.
43,000
Bangladeshis
vanished
in
India
in
four
years,
says
Union
Minister
of
State
for
Home
Affairs
Kiren
Rijiju:
At
least
43,000
Bangladeshi
nationals,
who
entered
India
on
valid
documents,
have
vanished
during
the
last
four
years,
whereas
only
19,995
could
be
deported
during
the
same
period,
said
Union
Minister
of
State
for
Home
Affairs
Kiren
Rijiju.
Revealing
this,
Kiren
Rijiju
said
in
a
Rajya
Sabha
(upper
house
of
Parliament)
reply
that
the
highest
number
of
24,364
disappeared
in
2011,
while
6,761
was
deported
the
same
year.
Last
year
(2015),
only
116
Bangladeshi
nationals
disappeared,
while
474
were
deported.
Assam
Tribune,
May
11,
2016.
FICN
worth
INR
400
crores
in
circulation
in
India,
says
report:
According
to
the
study
"Estimation
of
the
quantum
of
FICN
in
circulation",
conducted
by
Indian
Statistical
Institute,
Kolkata,
250
in
every
10,00,000
notes
in
circulation
in
India
are
fake
and
INR
400
crore
worth
of
such
Fake
Indian
Currency
Note
(FICN)
is
in
circulation
in
the
country
at
any
given
point
of
time.
The
study
has
unearthed
FICN
worth
INR
70
crore
are
infused
into
the
Indian
market
every
year
with
agencies
only
being
able
to
intercept
one
third
of
them.
The
study
has
further
revealed
that
the
detection
rate
of
fake
100
and
500
rupee
notes
were
found
to
be
about
the
same
and
higher
than
the
detection
rate
of
1000
rupee
notes
by
about
10
per
cent.
The
study
was
based
on
volumes
of
FICN
detected
and
cash
transaction
in
the
banking
sector.
The
study
said
that
"the
detection
of
FICN
is
carried
out
primarily
by
commercial
banks.
However,
their
reporting
is
irregular
too
and
only
three
banks
-
Axis,
HDFC
and
ICICI
report
about
80
per
cent
of
the
detection".
The
findings
have
been
accepted
by
the
government
and
a
series
of
strong
measures
to
counter
this
'economic
terrorism'
is
being
planned.
Times
of
India,
May
11,
2016.
Maoists
still
a
'challenge'
in
Odisha,
says
White
Paper
tabled
in
State
Assembly:
Despite
Odisha
State
Government's
claim
of
improvement
in
Left-Wing
Extremism
(LWE)
situation
in
the
State,
it
is
still
a
challenge
in
a
number
of
Districts.
The
situation
is
grim
in
parts
of
Malkangiri,
Koraput,
Nuapada,
Rayagada,
Kandhamal,
Kalahandi,
Balangir,
Nayagarh,
Rourkela
and
Bargarh
Police
districts,
said
the
White
Paper
released
by
the
State
Government
in
the
State
Assembly.
There
is,
however,
improvement
in
the
situation
in
districts
like
Jajpur,
Dhenkanal,
Keonjhar,
Mayurbhanj,
Gajapati,
Ganjam,
Nabarangpur,
Sambalpur,
Deogarh
and
Sundargarh.
Times
of
India,
May
11,
2016.
Special
FICN
Group
formed
in
UMHA
to
curb
FICN
circulation
in
India:
A
special
Fake
Indian
Currency
Note
(FICN)
Co-ordination
(FCORD)
Group
has
been
formed
in
the
Union
Ministry
of
home
Affairs
(UMHA)
to
share
intelligence/information
amongst
the
different
Security
Agencies
of
States/Centre
to
counter
the
menace
of
circulation
of
FICN
in
the
country.
The
Government
has
also
constituted
a
Terror
Funding
&
Fake
Currency
Cell
(TFFC)
in
National
Investigation
Agency
(NIA)
to
investigate
Terror
Funding
and
Fake
Currency
cases.
Business
Standard,
May
11,
2016.
Mizoram
Government
accepts
HPC-D
peace
overtures:
Mizoram
Government
accepted
the
peace
overtures
of
Manipur-based
Hmar
People's
Convention-
Democracy
(HPC-D)
on
the
condition
that
the
outfit
would
not
indulge
in
any
anti-government
activity
during
the
by-elections
to
the
village
councils
on
May
19.
Mizoram
Home
Minister
R
Lalzirliana
on
May
11
said
the
HPC-D,
through
the
Young
Mizo
Association
(YMA)
(Tuisual
Group)
and
the
central
committee
of
YMA
appealed
to
the
State
Government
to
initiate
a
peaceful
negotiation.
"We
welcome
the
peace
initiative
and
agreed
that
any
conflict
can
only
be
amicably
solved
through
negotiation,"
he
said,
adding
that
the
HPC-D
was
expected
not
to
campaign
for
any
political
party
or
candidate
during
the
polling.
Assam
Tribune,
May
12,
2016.
42
GNLA
cadres
including
its
top
leaders
surrender
in
Meghalaya
during
the
week:
Around
42
cadres
of
Garo
National
Liberation
Army
(GNLA)
surrendered
in
separate
incidents
in
different
parts
of
the
Garo
Hills
region
during
the
past
week.
The
surrendered
cadres
included
'finance
secretary'
Belding
Marak
alias
Rakkam,
'area
commander'
Hedeo
Ch
Momin
alias
Cellopa
alias
Karak,
'action
commander'
Hedeo
Ch
Momin,
'area
commander'
Chingnang
and
'deputy
area
commander'
Sengrak
M
Marak.
The
Shillong
Times;
The
Sentinel,
May
10-14,
2016.
Anti-Hijacking
Bill
passed
in
the
Lok
Sabha:
The
Anti-Hijacking
Bill
passed
in
the
Lok
Sabha:
The
Lok
Sabha
(Lower
House
of
Indian
Parliament)
cleared
the
Anti-Hijacking
Bill
on
May
9.
It
had
been
cleared
by
the
Rajya
Sabha
(Upper
House
of
Indian
Parliament)
earlier.
The
Bill
provides
for
death
penalty
to
offenders
in
case
hostages
or
security
personnel
die,
as
well
as
life
imprisonment
as
punishment
for
the
offence.
It
also
provides
for
the
confiscation
of
movable
and
immovable
property
of
the
accused.
The
Bill
amends
the
1982
Act
which
provided
for
death
penalty
for
hijackers
only
in
the
event
of
the
death
of
hostages.
While
the
Anti-Hijacking
Act
of
1982
was
tweaked
in
1994,
successive
governments
felt
the
need
for
a
stronger
law
following
the
hijacking
of
Indian
Airlines
flight
IC-814
in
December,
1999,
and
the
September
11,
2001
(9/11)
attacks
on
the
US.
Times
of
India;
May
10,
2016.
Chhattisgarh
State
Government
extended
the
ban
on
the
CPI-Maoist
and
its
six
frontal
organisations
for
another
year:
Chhattisgarh
State
Government
extended
the
ban
on
the
CPI-Maoist
and
its
six
frontal
organisations
for
another
year.
"The
ban
on
the
CPI
(Maoist)
and
its
six
frontal
organisations
has
been
extended
for
another
one
year,"
a
State
Home
Department
official
said
on
May
15.
The
CPI-Maoist
was
first
banned
along
with
its
affiliates
in
Chhattisgarh
in
April
2006
under
section
3
of
Chhattisgarh
Special
Public
Security
Act-2005,
and
since
then
the
State
Government
has
been
extending
the
ban
every
year.
The
six
frontal
organisations
of
the
Maoists
that
have
also
been
banned
are
--
Dandakaranya
Adivasi
Kisan
Mazdoor
Sangh,
Krantikari
Adivasi
Mahila
Sangh,
Krantikari
Adivasi
Balak
Sangh,
Krantikari
Kisan
Committee,
Mahila
Mukti
Manch
and
Jantana
Sarkar.
The
ban
will
be
effective
from
April
12,
2016,
for
the
next
one
year,
the
official
added.
Hindustan
Times,
May
16,
2016.
NEPAL
Federal
Alliance
begins
Kathmandu-centric
protests
with
picketing
of
Singha
Durbar:
Federal
Alliance
began
their
Kathmandu-centric
protests
on
May
15
with
the
picketing
of
Singha
Durbar
as
an
initial
phase.
Starting
from
9
a.m.,
protestors
from
29
Madhesi
and
Janjati
parties
gathered
in
the
Singh
Durbar
area,
the
center
of
the
country's
administration.
This
was
followed
by
rallies
with
placards,
banners
and
flags
that
began
from
various
locations
in
Kathmandu.
The
protestors
chanted
slogans
against
the
Government
leadership
and
urged
fulfillment
of
the
26-point
demand
they
submitted
to
the
Government.
They
emphasized
the
redrawing
of
provincial
boundaries
and
amending
of
fsome
provisions
of
the
Constitution,
among
other
things.
A
brief
scuffle
occurred
after
the
protestors
tried
to
cross
into
the
restricted
zone.
Republica,
May
16,
2016.
The South
Asia Intelligence Review (SAIR) is a weekly service that
brings you regular data, assessments and news briefs on
terrorism, insurgencies and sub-conventional warfare, on
counter-terrorism responses and policies, as well as on
related economic, political, and social issues, in the South
Asian region.
SAIR is a project
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and the
South
Asia Terrorism Portal.
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