Bangladesh: Timeline (Terrorist Activities) -2018

Members of Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) Unit arrested two militants of Neo-Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (Neo-JMB) from East Madarbari area in Chittagong District on January 1, reports New Age. The arrestees were identified as Asfaqur Rahman alias Rasel (22) and Rakibul Hasan Jony alias Salahuddin (19). The CTTC team recovered 10 grenades and two suicide vests from them.   Read less...

Police arrested a Majlis-e-Shura (Central Governing Body) member of Neo-JMB during a raid in House Building area in Dhaka city on December 31, reports The Daily Star. The arrestee is Mamun (21), involved in making bombs and providing training to its operatives.  Read less...

AAM Humayun Kabir, Chittagong chief of the Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crimes (CTTC) unit of the Police said that in order to stay under the law enforcement agencies’ radar, militants have changed tactics and are now assuming code numbers, instead of aliases, to identify themselves, reports Dhaka Tribune on January 5. Police learnt this information after interrogating two Neo-Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (Neo-JMB) militants Asfaqur Rahman alias Rasel (22) and Rakibul Hasan Jony alias Salahuddin (19) who were arrested from East Madarbari area in Chittagong District on January 1. Ashfaqur, who is the ‘deputy commander’ of Neo-JMB’s Chittagong unit, spilled this information during interrogation, said Kabir. Assuming fake names has been a common tactic used by militants to dodge law enforcement agencies. A member of a militant outfit would assume three to four names on an average. However, since aliases have proven to be ineffective in hiding their identities, militants are now using code numbers, Humayun told. One militant does not know another’s code number; only the ameer or the chief of the outfit are aware of the code number of each operative. Read less...

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader inaugurating a photo exhibition organized in Dhaka city on January 7 said that Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)-Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) is behind the recent abductions and enforced disappearances, reports The Daily Star. “His name is Nahid. He leads several killing groups from Sweden. He is carrying out and plotting such abductions,” he said. The alliance carried out the abductions to tarnish the image of the Government at home and abroad, he said. Read less...

Police arrested two cadres of Nakshal Bahini in Santhia upazila (sub-District) of Pabna District on January 8, reports The Daily Star. The arrestees are Lalu Hossain (26) and Milon Hossain (24). Police recovered three bombs from their possession. Read less...

Senior Police officials on January 9 met Prime Minister (PM) Sheikh Hasina at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre as part of the Police Week 2018 that began on January 8, reports Daily Star. Inspector General of Police AKM Shahidul Hoque said, “We want our ministries to take care of our proposals so that the proposals do not get stalled and the ministries forward them to other ministries concerned after completing the administrative tasks promptly.” Drawing the attention of the Planning Minister, the Police chief said the force gets around BTK 400 crore as its annual development budget. He demanded the Government increase the budget to BTK 1,000 crore. In a meeting with PM Sheikh Hasina, Police demanded an aviation wing for the force.Additional Deputy Inspector General Mohammad Moniruzzaman of the Police Headquarters said Police need the aviation wing, be it small, to curb militancy. Mohammad Moniruzzaman said that after they get information about militants' dens in remote areas, it takes the members of the counterterrorism unit hours to reach the spots. “If police had an aviation wing, they could reach the spots a lot faster.” He also said that 82 percent of the militants were radicalized and recruited via the internet. Among other measures suggested by the Police personals includes amending the Torture and Custodial Death (prevention) Act so that accused Policemen can secure bail. Read less...

An unscheduled demonstration by hundreds of members of the Islamic movement named Tablighi Jamaat and some Qawmi madrassa Alems (clerics) brought the traffic on Airport Road in Dhaka to a standstill on January 10, reports Dhaka Tribune. The demonstrators positioned themselves near the airport bus stand around 10am, chanting slogans against the arrival of a preacher from the Darul Uloom Deoband, Maulana Muhammad Saad Kandhalvi, who came to join the Biswa Ijtema, (annual gathering of Muslims) scheduled to kick off in Tongi on January 11. The protest was organised by the Bangladesh Qawmi Madrasa Education Board and Hefajat-e-Islam on instructions of Shah Ahmed Shafi, chief of Hefajat and the Qawmi Madrasa Education Board, demonstrators said added Daily Star.  Read less...

The International Crimes Tribunal-1 (ICT-1) on January 10 handed down death penalty to two and jail until death to three others for crimes against humanity during the Liberation War in 1971, reports The Daily Star. Of the convicts, Ujer Ahmed Chowdhury (63) and Nesar Ali (75) were given death penalties, while Yunus Ahmed (71), Samsul Hossain Tarafder (65) and Mobarak Mia (66) were awarded imprisonment until death. Yunus and Ujer are in jail and the rest are on the run. All the convicts were involved with the Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) and the Muslim League (ML) - two anti-liberation parties - during the Liberation War. With the latest verdict, the war crimes tribunals have so far delivered 30 judgments against 64 people. Thirty-nine of them have been sentenced to death. Read less...

Hours after Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) released photographs of two Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) militants killed during a raid in Dhaka city on January 12 Chittagong Police confirmed that one of them was NafisUl Islam who had remained missing from the port city since October 6, 2017, reports The Daily Star on January 19.With Nafis, two out of the three militants killed in the raid were identified. Read less...

Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) on January 14 identified one of the three Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) militants killed during a raid in Dhaka city on January 12 as Mezba Uddin of Comilla District, reports The Daily Star.  His fingerprints matched with the Election Commission database and confirmed his identity, Lieutenant Colonel Emranul Hasan, commanding officer-of RAB-3, told. The identities of the two others are yet to be known. Read less...

Three Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) militants were killed when the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) busted a hideout only 500 metres away from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in Dhaka city on January 12, reports Dhaka Tribune. The raid took place on the fourth floor of a six-storey residential building named Ruby Villa in West Nakhalpara. Two RAB officials were injured as well. RAB recovered three suicide vests, two pistols, 14 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and detonators, four containers of explosive gel and equipment to make IEDs from the room the militants had been staying in. Read less...

Myanmar on January 16 requested Bangladesh to extradite 1,300 militants of Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), claiming it has information that those members were attempting to disrupt the repatriation of the Rohingyas, reports The Daily Star. "We heard that these members are attempting to disrupt the repatriation process. We also have photographic evidence of this," U Myint Thu, permanent secretary of Myanmar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a statement on Tuesday. Read less...

War crimes trial campaigners of Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee (a platform campaigning for the trial of war criminals), on January 19 reiterated their demand that the government ban Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) for its anti-liberation role during the Liberation War, reports The Daily Star on January 20.   Read less...

Inspector General (Prisons) Syed Iftekhar Uddin on January 21 said that 600 militants are imprisoned in 68 jails across the country, reports Dhaka Tribune. He said “Prison authorities do not allow militants to mix with other prisoners so they cannot radicalize them. The police headquarters prepares a report on the militants and forwards it to the prison authorities, which takes 2-3 months.” Read less...

The last of the three Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) militants killed during a raid in Dhaka city on January 12 was identified as Robin Mia (17) on January 21, reports The Daily Star. His brother Golam Mostafa identified the body at Suhrawardy Medical College mortuary.  With this, all the three suspected militants were identified. The two others are Mezba Uddin and Nafis Ul Islam. Read less...

Police arrested a supplier of explosive material to Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) at the Three Road Junction of Jessore District on January 23, reports Dhaka Tribune. The arrestee was identified as Jahurul Islam Rony (37), a lab assistant in Cantonment College. 1kg of explosive material was recovered from the lab assistant. Read less...

Rangpur District Court on January 23 framed charges against 13 militants of Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) in a case filed for the killing of Khadem Rahman Ali (55), a caretaker of a shrine; in Kaunia upazila (sub-District) of Rangpur District on November 10, 2015, reports The Daily Star. 11 of the accused were present at the court. Two are absconding, said Police. Read less...

Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested three militants of Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) at Rupganj in Narayanganj District on January 26, reports New Age. The arrestees are Rezaur Rahman (27), Abu Raihan (28) and Mobarak Hossain (33). RAB recovered arms, bullet, jihadi books and leaflet from their possession. Read less...

Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia during his inspection of the security measures at the annual Amar Ekushey Book Fair’s venues – Bangla Academy and Suhrawardy Udyan – in the capital, Dhaka city on January 30 warned that legal action will be taken against the writer and publisher if any book hurting religious sentiment or disrupting communal harmony is published during the Book Fair, reports Dhaka Tribune. “If we receive information on any such book, the committee will evaluate them first. Then, legal measures will follow, if necessary, in line with the law related to the type of crime,” he said. Read less...

Arakan Rohjngya Salvation Army (ARSA) Commander-in-Chief Ataullah Abu Amar Jununi said in a statement on January 31 said that it will not carry out attacks at the Rohingya camps in Ukhiya and Teknaf upazilas of Cox’s Bazar or in any other part of the country, as their attacks are only conducted to defend themselves from the “terrorist Burmese (Myanmar) Government”, reports Dhaka Tribune. He said: “ARSA guarantees that we will not carry out any attack whatsoever inside the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh, as we respect the sovereignty of the country which is assisting millions of Rohingya people on humanitarian grounds. ARSA, in principle, strictly does not allow any of our members to attack civilians, their places of worship or properties, regardless of their religious and ethnic background.” Read less...

A ‘commander’ of Purba Banglar Communist Party (PBCP) was killed in a gunfight with Police in Dhalarchar area of Pabna District on January 31, reports The Daily Star. The deceased was identified as Julhash Mondol (42). Police recovered two pipe guns, one pistol, seven bullets, two machetes and some other sharp weapons from the spot. Read less...

In a major political development, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has outlined a framework of the next polls-time Government that will be smaller in size with limited jurisdiction and will carry out only routine work on January 31, reports The Daily Star. The Prime Minister came up with the formula in Parliament, rejecting the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)'s demand for an election-time supportive Government which she termed “unconstitutional”. "Our government will always uphold democracy. We will never accept any government system which is unconstitutional," she said in a scripted answer to a question. The polls-time government will be smaller in size. It will only carry out its routine work during the election and will not make any decisions on policy matters,” she said. Read less...

Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested two militants of Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) in Rajshahi city of Rajshahi District on January 31, reports The Daily Star. The arrestees were identified as Atiullah (22) and Maksedul Islam (23). RAB recovered one kilogram of gunpowder-like substance and bomb making materials including soda, circuits, and batteries from the duo. Read less...