Bangladesh: Timeline (Terrorist Activities) -2022

Terming the ruling Awami League (AL) as a 'terrorist political party,' Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on January 2 said the party in power has a lengthy history of terrorist activities, reports Observer. He made the remarks while addressing a press conference at the BNP Chairperson's political office at Gulshan in the capital Dhaka city. Fakhrul said "Basically, Awami League is a terrorist political party. The party could not survive without resorting to terrorism since it was born. Awami League enforced hartals as many as 173 days to realise its demand of caretaker government. They had burned a bus in front of Hotel Intercontinental in Dhaka with gun powder which left 11 people dead. It's nothing new for Awami League. They started their terrorist activities beating the then deputy speaker Shahed Ali to death inside the assembly during the erstwhile Pakistan. Since then, they have adopted terrorism as their main weapon." Read less...

A member of Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS) was shot dead by gunmen on January 3 while visiting his father-in-law's house at Lama in Bandarban District, reports Daily Bangladesh. The deceased was identified as Monkyaching Marma (35). Angow Marma, a resident of Anghla Para, President of Lama Upazila PCJSS, said, “I came to know about the incident at 2 pm. The farm house is 500 yards east of our neighbourhood. Monkyching Marma is my niece's husband. The incident is believed to have taken place in a conflict of regional politics.” Read less...

Dhaka Special Tribunal on January 4 rejected bail of former Joint Secretary General of Hefazat-e Islam (HeI) Mamunul Huq who is a charge sheeted accused in subversive case, reports Daily Observer. Judge Fatima Imrose Khonika of Special Tribunal of Dhaka passed the order responding to a plea. At the same time, she set March 13 for recording the depositions of the witnesses in the case. On January 14, 2015, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamat-e-Islami (JeI) leaders and workers vandalised vehicles and set those on fire at Madhya Pirerbagh of Sheorapa under Mirpur Model Police Station in Dhaka city. Later, ASI Khondker Rajib Ahmed of Mirpur Model Police Station filed the case under the Special Powers Act. Mamunul Huq was a charge sheeted accused in the case. On December 4, he was produced before the tribunal for showing him arrested. After the hearing the tribunal granted the petition. Afterward, Mamunul Huque's lawyer Syed Zainul Abedin Mesbah submitted a prayer to the tribunal seeking his client's bail. After the hearing, the tribunal rejected the bail prayer. Read less...

Pabna District Special Court on January 4 sentenced to life imprisonment four cadres of outlawed Purbo Banglar Communist Party (PBCP) for killing a man in Santhia upazila (sub-District) of Pabna District in 2006, reports The Daily Star. The convicts are Wasim Munshi (39), Mohammd Mostafa (42), Mirazul Islam (43) and Shahadat Hossain (30). Of them, Shahdat and Wasim were present before the court while the other two accused were tried in absentia. District Special Judge Mohammad Ahsan Tarek also fined the convicts Tk 25,000 each. According to the case statement, Rafikul Islam of village Gobindapur village went to visit his in-laws' house at Sagarkandi village on October, 19, 2006. The same day, PBCP cadres abducted Rafikul from the house and later killed him. Read less...

The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) on January 5 observed the eighth anniversary of the 10th parliamentary election day — January 5, 2014 — as ‘democracy killing day’ across the country amid police obstruction, reports New Age. In Dhaka city, addressing a human chain in front of the National Press Club, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said “On this day [January 5, 2014], the illegitimate government of Awami League, led by Sheikh Hasina, killed democracy. A deceptive and farcical election was held on that day to completely depoliticise Bangladesh and to remove it from the list of fully democratic countries.” Read less...

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam on January 6 said that the present Awami League (AL) Government believes in fascism and autocracy, reports Observer. He said “They don't tolerate any kind of opposing views or ideologies. As a result, they have completely destroyed democracy using the law enforcing agencies, particularly police force to serve its own purposes unlawfully. The Awami League wants to cling to power in Bangladesh forever. They are heading to establish one-party form of government in the country. The present government is working to reach this goal.” Read less...

Dhaka Special Tribunal on January 10 sentenced 10 leaders and activists of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) to jail for five years in a case filed over cocktail explosion during a hartal in Dhaka city's Bhashantek Police Station area in 2013, reports Observer. The jailed persons are: Sumon Chandra, Jasim, Aminul, Sohel, Kawsar, Jewel, Abdur Rahman, Shaheed, Mohsin and Liton. They were also fined BDT 5,000 each. In default, they will have to suffer three months more in jail. According to the prosecution, the accused exploded cocktails at Bhashantek intersection on November 26, 2013, during hartal-blockade called by BNP-led 18-party alliance. Later, Bhashantek Police Station sub-inspector Zahidul Islam lodged a case under the Explosive Substances Act. Read less...

Information and Broadcasting Minister Hasan Mahmud talking to journalists after placing wreaths at the portrait of the country's founding president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Dhanmondi 32 in Dhaka city on January 10 said that the anti-Liberation forces were still active in Bangladesh and they need to be eliminated, reports New Age. He said “Today is the 50th anniversary of the father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s homecoming. Though we achieved independence on December 16, 1971, the joy of the final victory of the Liberation War was fulfilled after the arrival of the Great Leader on January 10 in 1972. But the anti-liberation forces are hatching conspiracies till now. Jamaat and their collaborators who were against the independence are still with BNP and they are plotting against the sovereignty, development and progress of the country. So, it is needed to exterminate the evil forces.” Read less...

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen on January 12 said that Rohingyas posing security risk for region, reports Dhaka Tribune. The Minister made the call during a telephone conversation with his Vietnamese counterpart Bui Thanh Sơn. He apprised his Vietnamese counterpart of the plights of the displaced Rohingya people and the severe strain the crisis has created on the socio-economic situation of Bangladesh. He urged Vietnam and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to play a more proactive role in bringing about a sustainable solution to the protracted Rohingya crisis. Read less...

Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque while talking to journalists on January 12 said that the Government has taken initiatives to scrap the passports of those engaged in anti-state activities and making anti-Bangladesh comments while living abroad, reports The Daily Star. He said “There are some people who are spreading propaganda abroad - they can do it against any person but when it goes against the state it is sedition. These two are different things. One person can say something against me, but the latter causes damage to the state. We have recommended revoking the passports of those who are spreading propaganda against the state. A decision has been taken to revoke passports of those who have been doing it continuously.” Read less...

International rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) in its annual report on January 13 said that the ruling Awami League (AL) Government dismissed concerns expressed by the United Nations (UN), donors, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in 2021 over extrajudicial killings, torture, and enforced disappearances, reports New Age. In the Bangladesh chapter of its 752-page world report 2022, the New York-based rights group said that the authorities in Bangladesh cracked down on activists, journalists, and even children, who criticised the government or its response to the Covid19 pandemic. Read less...

Information and Broadcasting Minister Hasan Mahmud speaking to reporters at his Minto Road residence in Dhaka city on January 14 said that the Human Rights Watch (HRW)’s latest statement on Bangladesh as one-sided, unacceptable and politically motivated, reports Dhaka Tribune. He said “After reading this, it seems that someone from Bangladesh might have drafted it and they (HRW) only published it after retouching, nothing else. The existence of these types of organizations is good. But if the organization uses itself or gives statements for serving the interests of individuals and for political purposes by taking information from individuals of different countries, it makes the organization questionable. I saw the statement of Human Rights Watch. It is not realistic by any means, rather it is one-sided and politically motivated.” Read less...

Mohamad Shah Ali, brother of Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) ‘commander-in-chief’ Ataullah Abu Ammar Jununi, was arrested on January 16 with home-made weapons and drugs from Noukar Math area of No. 6 Rohingya Camp in Ukhia of Cox's Bazar District by Armed Police Battalion (APBn), reports Daily Observer. The arrest was made following an operation of APBn members to rescue a person abducted from the Rohingya camp. Law enforcers conducted a drive at the area in the camp after identifying the hideout of the alleged abductors. They rescued the abductee and managed to arrest Shah Ali, who is the brother of ARSA commander Ataullah. Read less...

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam on January 17 told the Parliament that he has proof and is aware of how much Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)-Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) paid to US lobby firms over the last five years, reports The Daily Star. Speaking on the thanksgiving motion, on President Abdul Hamid's speech, the state minister said the first document he got hold of was on hiring a lobbyist -- Akin Company Associates -- in the United States in 2015. "An agreement, with the address of BNP's Naya Paltan office, was signed with them. The agreement was valid for three years and US$ 50,000 was given per month - meaning that a total of nearly two million dollars were paid to them," said the State Minister. The junior minister said he has 10 such documents in this regard, and showed some documents in the Parliament. Read less...

An Anti-Terrorism Special Tribunal on January 20 issued arrest warrant against ‘chief of military wing’ of Ansar Al Islam sacked Army Major Syed Ziaul Haque Zia and four others on charge of killing blogger Nazim Uddin Samad in 2016, reports New Age. Judge of Anti-Terrorism Special Tribunal Mohamad Mojibur Rahman took the charge sheet cognisance and passed the order. The other accused in the case are – Akram Hossain, Mohamad Waliullah alias Oli alias Taheb alias Tahsin, Sabbirul Haque Chowdhury alias Akash alias Konik and Maulana Juned Ahammed alias Sabbir alias Taher. Nazim Uddin Sada, a law student of Jagannath University, was hacked and fired to death by some extremists on April 6, 2016 at old Dhaka. Read less...

European Parliament member Ivan Stefanec on January 20 asked the European Union (EU) to impose sanctions against the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), saying it has been involved in numerous extrajudicial killings and disappearances, reports The Daily Star. Stefanec in a letter to Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said the human rights, freedom of speech, civil and political rights situation in Bangladesh is deteriorating. He also cited the US sanctions against RAB and seven of its current and former officials. Read less...

Law Minister Anisul Huq on January 20 instructed the Deputy Commissioners (DCs) to stop the misuse and abuse of the Digital Security Act (DSA), reports The Daily Star. “We've asked the home ministry not to accept digital security act cases immediately after filing. There is a provision in the law to send cases to the corresponding cell. And in the case of journalists, instructions were given not to make arrests right away," he told reporters after meeting the DCs on the third and final day of the annual DC conference held at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium. He further said “The act is mainly formulated to combat cybercrime. It is not enacted to curb press freedom. Our constitution has clearly pointed out that freedom of expression and freedom of press are fundamental rights. There have been some cases of misuse. We'll talk with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to find out best practice. If necessary, we'll bring some amendment to the act.” Read less...

An intelligence report said that prison seems to have deterred militants little as they are continuing with their malicious activities with the help of a section of unscrupulous guards, reports The Daily Star on January 22. Due to the company, they keep, some inmates have also become more radical in prison than they were when they were outside. From holding meetings, propagating their ideology, recruiting members, issuing directives to activists over the phone to providing financial support to families of arrested members, they are doing it all from behind bars, said Police officials. More worryingly, the prison guards helping the inmates are not doing it for money, they are doing it for ideological reasons, they added. 13 prison guards were found working for militant outfits. The guards provide inmates with phones and carry messages, the report said. As many as 1,963 militant suspects were arrested between January 2016 and August 2021, according to the Police Headquarters. Officials said some who got arrested for their links to radical websites or for sharing radical thoughts on social media became fully-fledged members of militant outfits in prison. Read less...

Bail of militant suspects remains a concern, reports The Daily Star on January 23. A database of Police Headquarters (PHQ) shows 4,881 people were arrested over their involvement with different militant outfits in 16 years since 2005. Of them, 2,456 walked out of jail on bail. A total of 251 suspects out of 2,456 went into hiding. Ariful Karim Chowdhury alias Adnan was arrested by Police in 2015 over his involvement with banned militant outfit Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami Bangladesh (HuJI-B). Coming out of jail on bail, he got involved with Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), another banned militant outfit, and started activities using online platforms. Soon, he became the ABT ‘chief’ of a part of Dhaka city and in-charge of fund collection. Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested him again in the capital Dhaka city's Mirpur area on December 19, 2019. He has been behind bars since then. Samiun Rahman alias Ibn Hamdan is one of the top militants with experience of fighting for the Islamic State in Syria. Detectives of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) arrested him from Dhaka city on September 28, 2014. But he too managed to secure bail. He later collected an Indian passport illegally providing false information and fled the country. On September 17, 2017, New Delhi, India, Police arrested Samiun. Read less...

A trial court in Rajshahi District on January 24 sentenced President of Haripur Union unit of Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS), the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), to ten years behind the bar on charge of his involvement in cyber-crimes in the district in 2017, reports Daily New nation. The court also fined the convict Abdul Mukit alias Raju BDT 10,00,000, in default, to suffer one year more in jail. Rajshahi Divisional Cyber Tribunal Judge Ziaur Rahman found the accused guilty of the charge and handed down the verdict in presence of the convict. Saidur Rahman, Haripur Union President of Awami League, had lodged a case with Paba Police Station against Mukit related to his involvement in cyber-crimes on May 27, 2017. Read less...

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen while delivering his statement in the Parliament on January 26 said that the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) had appointed eight lobbyist firms so that the US stops providing aid and development assistance to Bangladesh, reports The Daily Star. Momen said that the Government has also proof that BNP, through appointing lobbyists, was involved in imposing US sanctions on Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and appealed to the United Nations Department of Peace Operations to ban the force from UN deployment. Read less...

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in her closing speech in Parliament on January 27 said that the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) must explain the source of crores of dollars it has given to lobbyists as part of its anti-state conspiracy, reports The Daily Star. She said “The BNP has to answer and explain from where they have got lakhs or crores of dollars to give foreign firms and how the money has been siphoned off abroad. She said the lobbyists have been hired to prevent the trial of war criminals, thwart election, make polls questionable, protect militants and killers of the Father of the Nation, tarnish the country's image and prevent its progress. Read less...

Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) on January 27 arrested a cadre of the banned militant outfit Ansar al-Islam in Sylhet District, reports Dhaka Tribune. The arrestee is identified as Kazi Bappi Ahmed (35), who also goes by the alias Tareq Bin Zia. A house in the Sylhrt city’s Kalbakhani neighbourhood was raided on a tip-off by a team of Sylhet-based RAB and arrested him. A cache of Jihadist literature was recovered from possession of the suspected militant. Read less...

Information and Broadcasting Minister Hasan Mahmud on January 29 said that Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and their leaders are doing anti-state activities and hatching conspiracies against the country, reports The Daily Star. He said BNP as a political party could criticise the Government's activities but they could not engage in treasonous and anti-national activities by sending letters against the country abroad, to hire lobbyist firms for tarnishing the country's reputation and destroying its trade and export. Terming appointment of lobbyist firms a conspiracy against the country, Hasan said the government might carry out an investigation to find out where the illegal money went and who took it. Read less...