Islamist Terrorism: Timeline (Terrorist Activities) -2001

Meanwhile, on the same day, people across the country held peace rallies under the banner of 'Anti-terrorism Peace Movement' with a call to build a terrorism-free society in Bangladesh. Read less...

Police in Dhaka, on January 1, recovered some arms and ammunition from the Dhaka University campus and also arrested one person in this connection. Read less...

One person was killed and two others injured by a group of terrorists at Char Chandia village in Sonagazi on January 4. Read less...

At least 15 people were injured in an attack by a gang of terrorists in village Sharnakarpura, on January 5. Police and local people said the attack was a sequel to the January 1-incident at the village when the gang faced a strong resistance to collecting toll. Read less...

In a separate incident, two terrorists, involved in an earlier killing of a civilian in Narayanganj district were arrested in the city. Read less...

In another incident, 1,200 bottles of contraband phensidyl syrup were recovered from a slum in Dhaka following an encounter with a group of illegal drug traders. Possession of contraband drugs is categorized as a terrorist activity in Bangladesh. Two persons were arrested in this connection. Read less...

In another incident, four terrorists were arrested along with a large quantity of firearms and ammunition at Ramna Park. After interrogation, police raided an illegal arms manufacturing factory at Narinda. However, the owner of the factory could not be arrested. Read less...

On the same day, a group of terrorists, allegedly from India, killed one civilian and abducted two others from a frontier village in Chuadanga. . Read less...

Police in Bangladesh said they have arrested Muhammad Yaqub on January 10 and claimed that he has links with Osama Bin Laden, a delayed report stated. Read less...

Bangladesh National Party (BNP), the main Opposition party has called for a countrywide strike on January 22 to press the demand for a repeal of the Public Safety Act (PSA) and the immediate resignation of the ruling Awami League government. Criticising the enactment and its alleged misuse, the BNP Chief and the leader of Opposition, Khaleda Zia, said, "The law which is abused against people and cannot ensure security of the common man has to be repealed immediately". Read less...

Six persons were killed and approximately 50 others injured on January 20 in two separate bomb blasts in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka. According to official sources, four persons were killed in the first blast which occurred at a political rally called by the Bangladesh Communist Party. Two persons who were preparing to detonate an explosive device were killed in the second blast that occurred near the headquarters of the ruling Awami League office. No arrests have been made so far in connection with the blasts. Read less...

On January 21, police arrested ten persons for their alleged involvement in January 20 bomb blasts at the CPB's rally at Paltan Maidan which killed six persons and injured at least 50 others. While, the Home Minister Mohammad Nasim held Jamaat-e-Islami, and its associated organisations responsible for the attack, the Water Resource Minister Abdur Razzak accused Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) of being involved in these incidents. Read less...

In another incident, on the same day, Cox Bazar police claimed to have arrested the ‘Chief of Staff’ of the Rohingya National Army (RNA), the military wing of the Arakan Rohingya National Organisation (ARNO). Read less...

On January 23, a terrorist and his brother were arrested in Mymensingh after they entered the Central jail threatening to blow it up. Read less...

Earlier, on January 25, three terrorists were injured in an exchange of fire in the Purana Paltan area. Read less...

Also on the same day, two people were injured in a bomb blast at a cinema hall in Narayanganj, an industrial town near Dhaka. The police termed it as an act of sabotage. Read less...

On January 26, five people including three terrorists were injured in an exchange of fire between police and suspected armed terrorists of the Mollah Masud -Tikka group in Dhaka. According to police sources, the incident pccurred as a group of an estimated eight armed-terrorists were intercepted by the police in the Madhubagh area near Ramna. Police claimed to have recovered two foreign made revolvers from the scene of the encounter. Read less...

Appreciating the effectiveness of the Public Safety Act (PSA) in curbing terrorism and extortion, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina urged the police forces, on January 28, to apply it cautiously. Inaugurating the Bangladesh Police Week-2001, she said, "PSA has been enacted to curb terrorism, extortion, monopolising tenders and new types of crimes...some positive results have already been achieved, but apply it cautiously so that none is deprived of justice," Read less...

In another development, a case was filed under Public Safety Act (PSA) against nine activists of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) today for the attack on its president Nasir Uddin Pintu at a city rally on January 28. Read less...

In yet another development, a police personnel was killed and two others injured in bomb attack by unidentified terrorists in Mukbuler Dolan area on January 29. Read less...

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, on January 29, said the bomb explosion at a public rally on January 20 was a politically motivated mischief and asked the police to thwart "politically motivated terrorism" to secure democracy and peace. Read less...

According to police sources, Myanmar’s Rohingya refugees are involved in the smuggling of arms and narcotics into their country and India. Three Rohingya militant leaders, including it’s ‘army chief’, Salimullah who were arrested in the country last week, established the group’s links with armed militant groups in several countries in the region. According to the sources, bulk of the illegal trade in arms and narcotics passes through Teknaf, a township on the Bangladesh-Burma border, where most of an estimated 50,000 illegal Rohingya immigrants reside. Read less...