|
DB: Foreign intelligence agency pulling JMB strings
[Dhaka Tribune] In what sounds like a scene from a James Bond film, Sherlocks say a foreign intelligence agency provided a local Islamist bad boy outfit with a spy telephone to evade increased surveillance operations by local law enforcement agencies.A high official of the Detective Branch (DB) of police, asking not to be named, yesterday confirmed the development to the Dhaka Tribune. He added that the recent bombing of the Hussaini Dalan, an important Shia shrine, was carried out by banned krazed killer outfit Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh The JMB is said to be the youth front of Al Mujahideen, the parent organization that began working toward establishing Bangladesh as an Islamic state in the mid 1990s which remains obscure even today. Other organizations, such as Jama'atul Jihad, JMB, Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB), Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HUJI), Hizbut Tawhid, Tawhidi Janata, Islami Jubo Shangha, Islami Shangha, Al Falah A'am Unnayan Shanstha and Shahadat-e al Hiqma are believed to be part of the Al Mujahideen network. The JMB at its peak was reported to contain at least 100,000 members, and an alleged 2,000-man suicide brigade, few of whom actually exploded. JMB allegedly received financial assistance from individual donors in Kuwait, UAE, Bahrain, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Libya. Reports have claimed that funding of JMB by international NGOs like Kuwait based Society of the Revival of Islamic Heritage (RIHS) and Doulatul Kuwait, Saudi Arabia based Al Haramaine Islamic Institute and Rabita Al Alam Al Islami, Qatar Charitable Society and UAE-based Al Fuzaira and Khairul Ansar Al Khairia. The top leadership of JMB was captured in 2005 and hung in 2007, which pretty much shot their bolt. (JMB) according to the instructions of the unnamed foreign intelligence agency. The DB source said a foreign agency was definitely involved in the attack and added that Sherlocks were searching for the involvement of other groups. The link between a foreign intelligence outfit and the JMB was discovered after the arrest of four JMB men last night and the analysis of their spy cell phone records. The arrestees have been identified as Md Idrish Sheikh, Md Makbul Sharif, Md Salam and Md Mostofa Zaman. "After conducting a drive in the Khilgaon and airport areas, DB tossed in the calaboose Please don't kill me! the four men last night and recovered a huge stash of jihadi literature, Indian, Pak and Bahraini currency, a spy mobile phone, two Pak and one Bangladeshi passport," Monirul Islam, joint commissioner of DB police, said. Addressing a briefing at the Dhaka Metropolitan Police's media and community centre, Monirul said whenever the JMB operatives communicated with each other using the spy phone, a copy of their voice and image was automatically sent to foreign intelligence officials. "Idrish Sheikh used the spy mobile and we have found evidence of a relationship between him and a female official of a foreign embassy in Bangladesh," Monirul said. Monirul declined to disclose the name of either the foreign intelligence agency or the foreign embassy implicated in the investigation. Monirul, also the DB chief, said Idrish went to India with the aid of brokers in 1985 before travelling onward to Pakistain. He received Pak citizenship after marrying a Pak woman in 1990. Idrish became involved in Pak politics and took part in national elections there in 2002 under the banner of the "Pak Muslim Alliance." He lost the election. Idrish returned to Bangladesh in 2007 and, after providing a false address in Bagerhat, procured a new Bangladeshi passport, Monirul said. Idrish later began working with the JMB. An analysis of his passport shows that he entered Pakistain at least 48 times over the last two years, Monirul said. JMB member Makbul Sharif also has connections to Pakistain. He went to Pakistain through brokers in 1985 and repeatedly visited the country as a cloth trader. "He was a JMB operative working in the guise of a trader," Monirul said, adding that Makbul used a fake passport to visit Pakistain. During his visits, Makbul established good relations with a Rohingya man living in Pakistain, Abdul Kuddus. Makbul helped Rohingya based in Bangladesh by providing fake passports and helping to send them to Pakistain, Canada and Australia. The funds he collected for these activities went into the JMB's coffers, Monirul said. Of the two other arrestees, Salam lived in the Bihari camp in Dhaka and also visited Pakistain. Mostofa worked as an assistant traffic inspector for Pakistain International Airlines. Monirul said they not only worked for the JMB but operated as currency traders, using their profits to fund krazed killer activities. Asked about the recent attacks on the Shia community, Monirul said the attacks were designed to create uncertainty in the country. He said a foreign power was behind the attack. Police have filed two cases with Airport police and another with Khilgaon cop shoppe against the four arrestees. The four were later placed in court where police sought a 10-day police remand. The court granted three days' remand for each of the arrestees. Posted by: Fred 2015-12-01 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=437222 |