Bangladesh Timeline - Year 2009

Date

Incidents

January 1

Two Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) cadres identified as Abdul Hye alias Masud and Khorshed Alam, who were arrested along with 28 grenades on December 30, were remanded to seven-day Police custody.

Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested an imam (prayer leader) of a mosque, identified as Mizanur Rahman, at Bheramara Sub-District of Kushtia District, for his alleged links with an Islamist militant outfit. According to Police, Mizanur went to the local Army camp at municipality rest house at around 7:00pm and urged the Army personnel to quit the camp immediately as a powerful bomb was planted there to kill them.

January 2

RAB personnel arrested a cadre of the Janajuddha faction of the outlawed Purba Banglar Communist Party (PBCP) at Dudshar village in Shailkupa Sub-District in Jhenidah. RAB also recovered a pistol and two bullets from his possession. The arrestee was identified as Badiuzzaman Badi alias Palash of Gangni in Meherpur District and confessed to his involvement with the outlawed outfit for a long time. Palash was an accused in at least five cases including four for murder, RAB added.

January 3

JMB threatened to blow up Jessore District School and Government Momin Girls' High School located in Jessore town on the day of their admission tests on January 7. Letters to this effect, posted from Sharsa sub-district of Jessore District were sent to the headmasters of both schools. Both the letters bore the signature of one Abdul Wahab who identified himself as a JMB cadre in Sharsa. The letters asked the headmasters to introduce Islamic education and compel students to wear dresses according Islamic sariah.

January 6

A Gono Mukti Fouz (GMF) cadre was killed in an encounter between his accomplices and the Police at Baria village in Barisal District. The extremist identified as Touhidul Islam (35) of Swastipur village was part of a group of GMF cadres who had assembled at Baria graveyard when Police carried out a raid. Police recovered a shutter gun and two bullets from the spot. The slain extremist was involved in the murder of businessman Ashraful Islam Bakul on November 22, 2008.

Police arrested another GMF cadre, Sahjahan Ali along with six rounds of bullets during a raid in the Bottail area.

Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) personnel recovered three mortar shells at Jugirampara under Thanchi sub-district in Bandarban District. Acting on a tip-off, BDR personnel raided at a zhiri (hilly water area) near Jugirampara and seized the firearms. Nobody has been arrested in connection with the recovery.

January 10

Police recovered two bombs from the compound of the National Academy for Educational Management in the national capital Dhaka. No one was arrested in connection with the recovery.

January 11

Police arrested Boma Shumon, a cadre of the PBCP-Janajuddha, near the Deputy Election Commissioner’s office at Sher-e-Bangla Road in Khulna city. Boma was wanted in six cases filed with different Police stations in Khulna city under Explosives Act in last four years.

Police arrested Manoj Roy, a New Biplobi Communist Party (NBCP) cadre, from Lakkhikhola village in the Dakop sub-district of Khulna District. Roy was wanted in a number of criminal cases.

January 20

The Divisional Speedy Trial Tribunal in Chittagong sentenced Javed Iqbal alias Mohammad, JMB’s divisional chief, to 10 years' imprisonment for his involvement in the August 17, 2005 serial blasts case. Javed was also fined Taka 5000. Three explosions had occurred on August 17, 2005 in Chittagong’s Bahodderhat, Muradpur intersection and OR Nizam Road areas.

January 23

RAB personnel recovered 12 bombs from near a school in Muradnagar sub-district of Comilla District.

January 26

RAB personnel recovered two foreign-made firearms, one bullet and one kilogram of gunpowder from a passenger bus at Garhikhana road in Jessore. The person carrying these arms, ammunition and gunpowder, however, managed to escape.

January 28

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed said her Government would not hesitate to take stringent measures to curb militancy in the country. In her first question-answer session in the ninth Parliament, she said, "Whenever action is taken against militants, it is described as an attack on Islam. But it is not right. The militants have no religion and operate beyond boundaries... I have already directed all ministries and the authorities concerned to find out the militants' patrons, financers and sources of illegal arms and ammunitions to root out militancy." Terming militancy a major problem in the country, Hasina said she has already asked the authorities concerned to take necessary steps to form 'South Asian Anti-terrorism Taskforce' in line with the Awami League’s election manifesto for curbing cross-border terrorism.

January 30

RAB personnel arrested a gang of three arms dealers from Nimpara of Charghat Sub-District in the Rajshahi District. Two pistols, including one made in the United States, with four magazines loaded with 13 bullets and a revolver with five bullets were recovered from their possession. The arrested persons were identified as M Rohidul (35) of Helalpur of Bagha Sub-District and his accomplices Mostafizur Rahman Mostak (35) and Raju Ahmed Mintu (29) of Shimulia of Charghat Sub-District.

February 2

A Biplobi Communist Party (BCP) regional leader, identified as Shamsul alias Ali Robin (32), was killed at Kotchandpur bus stand in the Jhenidah District. Police sources said Shamsul had demanded an extortion amount of Taka 500,000 from a trader and asked him to come to Kotchandpur bus stand with the amount. Being informed by the trader, Police personnel attempted to arrest the extremist at the location. In the ensuing encounter, the extremist was killed. Police recovered two shutter guns, two bombs and three bullets from the encounter site. Police sources said Robin was wanted in 19 cases including five for murder.

February 7

Daily Star reported that the Bangladesh government has received information from international intelligence agencies of the US, United Arab Emirates, and Pakistan regarding threat to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s life from international terrorist organisations who are in league with local extremist groups. Two cabinet ministers, Commerce Minister Faruk Khan and Foreign Minister Dipu Moni and intelligence sources confirmed the receipt of the information which said that the month of February could be crucial. "She is a target, and there is no doubt about it," a senior official of a domestic intelligence agency said. Following the threat alert, all scheduled outdoor programmes of the Prime Minister were immediately curtailed.

February 12

A regional leader of the New Biplobi Communist Party (NBCP), identified as Bikash Kumar Bose, was killed by unidentified militants at Charbiharia village under Khoksa sub-district of Kushtia District. Bikash was a close associate of the NBCP chief Akidil Hossain, who was reportedly killed in an encounter with the Police on February 1, 2008.

February 18

The Nilphamari Police arrested a JMB militant, identified as Mashiur Rahman, an assistant teacher of the local Rahmania madrassa, from a village in the Jaldhaka sub-district. A large number of Jihadi books, leaflets and important letters were recovered from Mashiur’s possession. He was arrested on the basis of information provided by 13 JMB militants arrested in Nilphamari, Rangpur and Lalmonirhat Districts during the last two months, the Jaldhaka Police Station Officer-in-Charge, said.

Two terrorists of the Democratic Party of Arakan (DPA), a militant group of Myanmar, were arrested with two firearms on the Myanmar-Bangladesh border at Beng Charipara under Roangchari Sub district in the Bandarban District. The duo, identified as U. Ching Thui and Thui U, confessed their involvement with DPA. Security Forces also recovered one sub-machine gun with 12 rounds of bullet and one Chinese Rifle with eight rounds of bullet from their possession.

February 19

In two separate incidents, the Sirajganj Police arrested five PBCP cadres, identified as Ershad Mahmud, Parish, Zahidul Islam, Ashraf Ali and Saiful Islam, from the Ullapara and Tarash areas. They were wanted in several cases, including murder, robbery and abduction, Police said.

A Rajshahi court framed charges against eight JMB cadres in the Rajshahi University (RU) Professor Muhammad Yunus’s murder case. The accused include Shafiullah Tarek (a follower of militant leader Asadullah Al Galib) and Shahidullah Mahbub (husband of the executed JMB leader Bangla Bhai's niece). Both of them were the mastermind behind the murder, according to the charge sheet. The other accused are JMB's regional commanders, Abu Isa Enamul and Golamur Rahman Mostafa, an adherent of Galib's Ahle Hadith Jubo Shangha, militants Abul Kashem Tufan, Abdul Matin, Abdur Rahman Arif and Mojibur Rahman.

Bangladesh Government said that it has mutually agreed with India to hand over the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) founder Anup Chetia, who has been lodged in a Bangladeshi jail since 1996, reports The Hindu. "We have mutually agreed on the handover, now we have to decide on the formalities of how to hand over," Bangladesh's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hasan Mahmud told CNN-IBN news channel in Dhaka. The mutual agreement "will also include handover of Bangladeshi criminals who have fled to India," Mahmud was quoted as saying in a press release issued by the TV channel. He accused the previous Bangladesh National Party Government of nurturing terrorist groups like the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI-B). "Since 2001, the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami had ministers in their Government who chanted slogans to turn Bangladesh into Afghanistan," Mahmud said. He also added that "HuJI has cross-border linkages not only with Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) but with other organisations also". Mahmud also conformed that the HuJI still has cadres in hideouts in Bangladesh and the Government was trying to locate them.

February 20

A JMB cadre in handcuffs exploded an improvised grenade at the office of the Superintendent of Police (SP) in Gazipur, injuring at least 13 persons, including nine Policemen and three journalists. The blast occurred at around 4:30pm when four JMB cadres, including three women, were being paraded before the media. The SP in Gazipur, Abdul Baten, said Mamun alias Zahid, the male arrestee, flung himself on the recovered grenades on display and later hurled the grenade at the Police and journalists present. The Police had arrested them six hours earlier and recovered five grenades and a cache of bomb-making material at Tongi.

The Chief Judicial Magistrate's Court in Gazipur placed four JMB cadres on a 10-day remand. The militants, Nasrin Akhter, Zahid, Masud and Atique, had been arrested along with three grenades, bomb-making material and books on jihad from a house in East Kalomeshwar village on February 14.

A court in Jamalpur placed three arrested JMB cadres on a seven-day remand. The militants, Abdullahel Kafi, Mehedi Iqbal Ripon and Shamsul Haq, had been arrested on February 14 in Jamalpur town.

Home Minister Sahara Khatun informed the Parliament of the formation of a three-member probe committee headed by Deputy Inspector Feneral (DIG) of Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to look into the JMB activities. The committee was asked to submit its report within three working days. She further said the Government is determined to identify people involved in militancy, their financers and arms and explosives suppliers.

February 23

The Speedy Trial Tribunal in Rajshahi sentenced six PBCP cadres to life imprisonment for their involvement in the killing of union council chairman Abdus Sobhan Chowdhury in Naogaon on August 30, 2002. The cadres were identified as Babu alias Sagor, Akbar-1, Abdus Sabur, Zahidul Islam, Abdul Latif and Chanchal. Each of them were also fined Taka 10,000 each.

February 24

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina while addressing a function at Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) headquarters in Dhaka said that Bangladesh would not allow anyone to use its territory as a springboard for terrorist activities, reports Daily Star. "We believe in maintaining good relations with our neighbours to portrait Bangladesh a peaceful country in South Asia, but we would resist any kind of unfair steps against us with courage and boldness", she said. Terming smugglers as enemies of the country, its people and economy, Sheikh Hasina said no compromise would be made in smuggling firearms, drugs and illegal commodities.

RAB personnel arrested eight suspected JMB militants from four villages - Rampur, Bairaghibag, Goyeshpur and Dullah Chanpur in the Muktagachha Sub-District of Mymensingh District - on February 24. They were identified as M. Anadul Haque, M. Abdul Barek and M. Abdul Mannan of Rampur village, Mohammad Murtaza and M. Saiful Islam of Bairaghibag village, Quari M. Saidur Rahman and Mohammad of Goyeshpur village and M. Nazrul Islam of Dullah Chanpur village. They were interrogated at the RAB office where they confessed to their involvement in militant activities.

February 25

Daily Star reported that several left-wing extremist outfits have started regrouping and resuming their activities in the country's south-western region. The extremist leaders, who had been evading arrest for the last few years, have returned to their areas and are leading the regrouping mission. They are also recruiting fresh cadres to increase their strength, the report added. Such activities have been reported from areas of Kushtia, Meherpur, Chuadanga, Jhenidah, Jessore, Khulna and Bagerhat Districts. Among the extremist leaders who have been active in recent times area the chief of the Gono Bahini Azibor Rahman alias Azibor Chairman and his two key accomplices, Anwar Hossain Anu and Mandar, chieftains of Gono Mukti Fouz (GMF) Shaheen and Mukul and their regional commanders Swapan Chakraborty, Abu Taleb and Bakhtiar; and regional leaders of PBCP Janajuddha faction Badiur Rahman, Anwarul Islam and Atiar.

March 3

A 10-year old boy was killed and two other children sustained injuries as a bomb, abandoned in a police station premises, exploded in the Chapainawabganj town. Police said the bomb had been dumped into the dustbin and exploded when three children were playing near the dustbin.

RAB personnel unearthed an illegal firearms manufacturing factory at Pachsira Bazaar of Kalai sub-district in Joypurhat District and arrested one person in connection.

RAB personnel arrested two suspected militants from Konabari in the Gazipur District. The arrested were identified as Osman Gani (28) and Azizul Hakim (30), residents of Baghmara sub-district in Rajshahi. A diary was recovered from their possession.

A tem of RAB personnel arrested five other suspected militants in the Ambagh area of Konabari. The militants, hailing from Barguna District, were subsequently handed over to the Police.

March 5

A speedy trial tribunal in Rajshahi sentenced 12 PBCP operatives to life imprisonment for their involvement in the killing of four persons. All the convicts were also fined Taka 10,000 each. According to the prosecution, four people suspected to belong to a rival extremist outfit had been killed by the PBCP cadres at Foliachapri Beel in the Pabna District on May 11, 2004.

March 12

The Commerce Minister Lt Col (retired) Faruk Khan, who has been coordinating the investigations into the February 25 and 26 killing of 74 people including 52 Army officers at the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) Pilkhana headquarters, linked the killings to the militant outfit, the Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB). He said some of the BDR personnel arrested for their involvement in the mutiny have connections with the JMB. "We have gathered that a number of BDR jawans arrested in the mutiny case were involved in JMB somehow or other. I won't give more details as that might alert others having links to the mass killings," he told reporters.

Government authorised 14 Police stations in capital Dhaka to bring sedition charges against 27 Hizb ut-Tahrir operatives detained for "distributing provocative leaflets" over the BDR mutiny. The leaflets had urged the civilians to "dislodge the government to save the army and BDR from Indian conspiracies."

Army personnel recovered firearms and ammunition from the remote Aong Jai Karbari Para village in Roangchhari sub-district of Bandarban District and arrested two persons in connection with the recovery. The recovered items included one M16 rifle, one SLR, 18 grenades, 299 SMG bullets and 91 SLR bullets. Two sets of army uniforms, one resembling the Bangladesh army and another of the Indian army were also recovered. . The arrested youths claimed that the arms had been hidden by the cadres of the Myanmar based insurgent outfit, the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP) who had taken shelter in the village.

Immigration police arrested a suspected JMB cadre, identified as Moulana Munsur Alam (45) from the international border between India and Bangladesh at Benapole in the Jessore District. Police sources said that the arrested person was returning from India after five months. An Indian mobile SIM card was recovered from the arrested cadre. He apparently had visited India with a one-month visa and had then stayed illegally in different madrassas subsequently.

March 14

Daily Star reports that the JMB cadres are carrying out their organisational activities from makeshift camps in different char (riverine) areas and remote villages in Sirajganj and adjoining Districts. Quoting intelligence sources the report further said that the outfit has been recruiting new cadres and training them in make shift camps set up in these areas. Several such camps have come up the remote areas of Sirajganj, Bogra, Gaibandha, Rangpur, Dinajpur, Panchagarh, Lalmonirhat, Joypurhat, Natore, Rajshahi, Chapainawabganj, Pabna, Kurigram, Thakurgaon, Naogaon and Nilphamari Districts.

March 15

Gono Mukti Fouz (GMF) outfit distributed leaflets threatening the law enforcement agencies of 'any action anytime' including killing of some people at a few places in Kushtia District. Around 20-25 armed extremists came to Bittipara Bazaar at about 8:30pm (BST) and made an announcement through loudspeakers asking people to take their leaflets, said locals. After giving leaflets to some people in the market area, the cadres fired several rounds and left. They subsequently distributed leaflets in Ujangram, Gajna-bipur, Abdalpur, Ratulpara and some other areas and left the places firing, people said. In the leaflets, the outfit said that they killed businessman Ashraful Islam Bokul on December 21, 2008 for helping the Police to kill GMF leaders Majid, Nobin and Saddam, from December 6 to 9, 2008. The leaflets also threatened to kill several people, including the outlawed Gono Bahini chief Azibor Rahman alias Azibor chairman, younger brother of the slain trader Anisur Rahman Jhantu, Obaidul Islam and Amirul Islam.

March 16

The Cabinet sent back to the Home Ministry its report on the activities of militant outfits in the country asking it to give more information about such organisations and their networks. The report named a dozen such outfits with information on their organograms, sources of funding, links to political parties and their operations. Home Secretary Abdus Sobhan Sikder placed the report that named 12 militant outfits – the JMB, HuJI-B, Hizbut Towhid, Ulama Anjuman al Bainat, Hizb-ut-Tahrir, Islami Democratic Party, Islami Samaj, Touhid Trust, Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB), Shahadat-e al Hikma Party Bangladesh, Tamira Ar-Din Bangladesh (Hizb e Abu Omar) and Allahr Dal.

March 19

A pipe gun and two bullets of a rifle were recovered from Shah Mukdum Hall of Rajshahi University in the Rajshahi District on March 19. The cleaners of the hall ahd found a pipe gun and two bullets wrapped in polythene on the ground floor of the hall. The Police later seized the weapons.

Two PBCP cadres were sentenced to 37-years imprisonment each for possessing illegal arms. The convicts were identified as Mohammed Ayub Hossain of Brittidebi village and Mohammed Ashraf Ali of Kacherkol village under Shailkupa Sub-District. According to prosecution, Police arrested the two PBCP cadres on August 29, 2003 and had recovered a gun with 32 bullets from their possession.

March 20

Militants are making threats against English-language schools in the Bangladesh capital Dhaka, Police said. Police said principals of several English-language schools told them they had received threatening letters or phone calls from militants and parents of students in the schools have subsequently been alerted of security concerns. The letters asked for money to support the militants or treat those wounded in clashes with Security Forces during the recent Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) mutiny or other clashes. While authorities have not been specific about the threats another source involved in the issue said they were directed against students.

March 21

Police recovered 19 brochures and some leaflets of the JMB from Hotel Al- Baraka in Khulna city.

March 22

The first court of Rajshahi Divisional Special Judge sentenced seven militants of the banned JMB for life in connection with the August 17, 2005 serial bomb blast case filed with the Motihar Police Station. The convicts were identified as JMB’s regional ammunition supplier Torikul Islam, Rajshahi District commander Shafiullah Tarek Kalam, and a zonal JMB commander Abu Isa alias Enamul Haque Mithu, Hasan Ali Ekhwan, Jahangir Alam Abidur and Arif alias Alal. Sheikh Enamul Haq Moni, a supporter of militant leader Asadullah Al Galib, was convicted in absentia. He commanded the JMB's western zone in Rajshahi till 2006 in the guise of a journalist. JMB militants had orchestrated 500 synchronised blasts across the country except in one District.

Police arrested two persons, identified as 28 year-old Jahangir Hossain Mukul, a resident of Avoynagar Sub District in Jessore District, and 39-year old Abul Kashem, a resident of Berabalki village in Mymensingh District, from Katia Uttarpara of Satkhira town, for their alleged links with the JMB.

March 23

An intelligence agency arrested a HuJI-B founding member, identified as Maulana Sheikh Abdus Salam, from his home in the Bashundhara residential area of capital Dhaka. Abdus Salam is the ameer (chief) of the Islamic Democratic Party (IDP). He was born in Sherpur and reportedly went to Afghanistan in the early 1980s and returned in 1989. He also studied in the madrassas of Bangladesh and Pakistan. According to sources, some Afghanistan War veterans led by Abdus Salam officially launched the HuJI through a press conference at the Jatiya Press Club on April 30, 1992.

March 24

RAB personnel neutralised a mini-ammunition factory inside a madrassa-cum-orphanage in the Ramkeshob village of Borhanuddin Sub-District in the Bhola District. During the search operation, nine firearms, 2500 bullets, 3000 grenade splinters, an explosives blaster, 200 grams of gunpowder, bullet-making components and equipment, two walkie-talkies, two bows, two remote control devices, binoculars, four pairs of German-made uniforms, a book on how to operate firearms and booklets on jihad, Moulana Moududi and al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden were recovered. Subsequently, the RAB also arrested four militants, identified as Abul Kalam, Abdul Halim, Jasim and Moulana Mohammad Russell. Referring to the seizure, Lt. Commander Mamunur Rashid who led the operation said, "We've found materials needed to assemble bullets. They include percussion caps, cartridge cases and bullet heads. And all these are made in the UK." "The recovery also indicates they [the militants] have all equipment necessary to make IEDs," Mamun added.

Founding member of the HuJI-B and the ameer of the Islamic Democratic Party (IDP), Maulana Sheikh Abdus Salam, was remanded to four-day Crime Investigation Department custody in connection with the bomb attack on a Communist Party of Bangladesh rally on January 20, 2001.

March 25

Two people, including a Awami League (AL) leader Ruhul Amin Khan, were wounded in a bomb blast at his house in the Laxmipur village of Muladi sub-district in Barisal District. Police said the roof of the room was blown up in the explosion. Ruhul later said that two burkha (veil) clad women had visited him asking for some favour and the explosion occurred after they left the house.

A bomb was recovered at a venue of the Independence Day programme in Sarwarzan Pilot High School ground in the Bamna sub-district of Barguna District. The bomb was hidden under the dais erected for the programme. Police sources said two pieces of electric cable, two pencil batteries, capacitor of an electric fan were found wrapped with red tape along with the bomb and ‘JMB Bomb’ was inscribed on it.

The Jamaat-e-Islami Amir Matiur Rahman Nizami said that militancy has been invented by the AL party in Bangladesh to impede development of the country. Addressing a meeting marking the Independence Day at Dhaka, he said, "Having failed to accept Islam as code of life, they (AL) campaign against the leaders of Islamic movement." He said that the Islamists can never have any link with acts of sabotage.

March 26

RAB personnel recovered two firearms and two round cartridges in two separate raids in the East Shaheed Nagar and Khatiber Hat areas of the port city of Chittagong. The firearms included a light gun and a single-barrel gun. None has been arrested in connection with the recovery.

March 28

Four cadres of the Arakan Army, a Myanmar-based militant group, were arrested by the intelligence agency personnel at Roangchhari Jeep Station in Bandarban District.

March 29

Police arrested a JMB militant from Baje Goalkandi village in Bagmara sub-district of Rajshahi. Police sources said that the militant, identified as Fazlur Rahman (28) was arrested from his house on his return from Maldives where he had fled to evade arrest. Police further said that the arrested militant had previously functioned as a aide to executed JMB leader Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai and is an accused in several cases for alleged torture on opponents.

Police arrested three activists of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) in Gopalganj and Thakurgaon Districts on charges of planning subversive activities and selling controversial books. The arrested included JeI Ameer of Muksudpur sub-district in Gopalganj Md Shahidul Islam alias Jahangir Mollah. The other two arrested were identified as Shujan and his father Zahedul Islam, an employee of Water Development Board in Thakurgaon.

Police submitted charge sheets in three cases in connection with the seizure of explosive materials from the JMB operatives and detonation of an explosive at Gazipur District Police Chief’s office.

Army personnel arrested three indigenous people with rifles at Ulum Para under Alikadam sub-district of the Bandarban District. The arrested persons were identified as Maan Mro, Thing Wang Mro and Naoring Mro.

April 1

Law Minister Shafique Ahmed said 122 outfits are involved in terrorist activities in the country. Addressing a workshop on 'Anti-Terrorism Act 2009' in capital Dhaka, he said Qawmi Madrassas (seminaries not under Government control) are turning into breeding grounds of religion-based terrorism. He further said that "The education ministry is conducting a survey on madrassas and it is rational to bring all madrassas under government's control."

Home Minister Sahara Khatun directed the law enforcers to take stern action against militants and strengthen intelligence. Speaking at a function on the occasion of 'Police Week-2009' held at Rajarbagh Police Telecom Auditorium in Dhaka, she expressed concern over the existence of militants' hideout at Daulat Khan in the Bhola District and elsewhere in the country. "The government will root out militancy from the country at any cost", she said.

April 6

RAB personnel arrested Faisal Mustafa, a top official of Green Crescent, a British-based Islamic non-governmental organisation for allegedly funding Islamist militancy in Bangladesh, along with a companion at a house in Gazipur, 40 kilometres north of national capital Dhaka. Colonel Rezanur Rahman of the RAB said, "So far we know he has dual Bangladeshi and British nationality and was top man of the NGO named Green Crescent, registered in Britain." Security forces were on the look out for Mustafa after a cache of arms and explosives were recovered on March 24 this year from a madrassa in a village near Bhola district town, 350 kilometres south of Dhaka.

Bangladeshi authorities deported a Sudanese national because Police believe he was using an Islamic charity as a cover to train militants. Abbas Bao, who heads the local branch of the Kuwait-based charity Revival of Islamic Heritage Society (RIHS), was ordered to leave Bangladesh. An unidentified intelligence officer told "We believe RIHS has been giving money to various militant groups in Bangladesh. We cancelled the registration of RIHS in the middle of 2007." He added, "He (Bao) was married to a Bangladeshi woman and he had applied for citizenship here but that application was rejected." Bao had been in Bangladesh since 1996.

April 7

Daily Star reported that 35 out of the 50 'most-wanted' JMB cadres are still active in four northern Districts of the country- Nilphamari, Rangpur, Dinajpur and Lalmonirhat. Police had arrested 15 cadres in the last four months. Police sources said that three special teams have been formed to arrest the militants.

April 11

The Bangladesh Government held a meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to finalise its strategy to form a Joint Working Group (JWG) on Counter Terrorism with the British Government. The proposal for setting up a JWG had been made by the UK Government during the caretaker Government's regime. Bangladesh Home Ministry officials said they would also hold a meeting on April 27 to finalise a strategy for a JWG with the US. Gradually, the Government will form JWGs with Australia and Russia too.

April 12

In a pre-dawn raid, the RAB personnel arrested eight JMB militants from the Khilkhet area of national capital Dhaka. Three of the arrested, identified as Abu Sayeed alias Parvez, Yusuf Al Asadullah Bin Wahidullah of Bogra and Sumon alias Abdullah of Narayanganj, were trained to be suicide bombers. One of the other arrested was identified as Abdul Matin alias Zakir of Munshiganj, brother of Salahuddin, a JMB Majlish-e-Shura (the highest policy-making body) member who is on death row. Matin has been trying to reorganise the JMB, RAB sources added. The recovered items from the JMB cadres included 10,000 lithium batteries, ten detonators, and five packets of high power gel explosives besides CDs, audiotapes, computer accessories and manuals, and books and leaflets on jihad.

April 13

Police and RAB personnel arrested seven members of Pakistan-based Islamic organisation Dawat-e-Islami from a flat at Patharghata area of Chittagong District on suspicion of linkages with militants. The arrested have been identified as Sohel Tahery, Mozammel Attary, Kalimullah Qadery, Mahmudul Hasan alias Mehmud Attary, Boshar Attary, Nurul Azim Attary and Faruk Attary. Nine passports, four computers, one scanner and one printer, a number of CDs and VCDs, several booklets and leaflets on teaching of Islam and some documents were recovered during the raid. Claiming the organisation truly religious-based organisation, one of the arrested Nurul Azim said the organisation started its activities in Bangladesh in 1985 and now covers 22 Districts of the country and around 70 countries.

Police arrested two suspected JMB cadres from Boiragibagh in Dullah union of Muktagachha Sub-District in Mymensingh. Two pistols along with five rounds of bullets were recovered from the possession of the arrested militants. The arrested were identified as Russel (28) of Dhaliman village in Trishal of Mymensingh and Fazlur Rahman (30) of Mir Kumini village of Tangail.

Investigators claimed that the Bangladesh-born British citizen Faisal Mostafa, now detained in Dhaka, has close links with the JMB. Mostafa allegedly met executed JMB supremo Abdur Rahman several times, and kept in contact with Saidur Rahman, the now-on-the-run boss of the militant organisation. On many occasions, Saidur visited Faisal’s Green Crescent madrassa (seminary)-cum-orphanage at Ramkeshob village in Borhanuddin Sub-District of Bhola, where the RAB personnel had discovered a mini-munitions factory on March 26.

April 14

Three suspected JMB militants were arrested along with 50 jihadi publications, including books written by militant leader and Ahle Hadith Andolan Bangladesh (AHAB) chief Asadullah Al Galib, in Naogaon District. The trio were identified as Abdul Karim, a bakery employee, Shahadat Ali, a tailor, and Hafez Faruk Hossain, a teacher at the Shikarpur Hafezia madrassa. According to Police sources, the three militants are also members of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) and Abdul Karim was reportedly the president of Shikarpur union of JeI in Sadar sub-District in Naogaon. The trio is reported to have confessed to having links with the outlawed militant outfit JMB under JeI cover, adding, the three were plotting to carry out subversive activities on Pahela Baishakh (the New Year).

April 15

Police arrested a JMB cadre from Shahebganj Bazaar in the Naogaon District. He was identified as Hamidur Rahman (46), a close aide of the executed JMB leader Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai. The militant was returning home from his hideout when he was arrested.

RAB personnel arrested a JMB cadre, identified as Bipul Ahmed, from Rajshahi city. RAB sources described him also as an accomplice of Bangla Bhai.

April 16

The Metropolitan Sessions Court in Dhaka framed charges against 14 operatives of the HuJI-B, including its chief Mufti Abdul Hannan, in two cases filed in connection with the Ramna Batamul bomb blast of April 14, 2001. Judge A. N. M. Bashir Ullah rejected the discharge petitions submitted by the counsels for Hannan and five others. The court fixed April 28, 29 and 30 for trial of the case filed under the Explosive Substances Act and set May 3, 4 and 5 for trial of the murder case.

A JMB cadre, identified as Satkhira, who was arrested on April 13 from his house at village Kushkhali in Sadar sub-District, was remanded to five-day Police Custody.

April 17

Police arrested 31 Hizb-ut Towhid (HuT) militants, including its Kushtia regional chief, and seized books and leaflets on Jihad from the Pather Disha office at Bara Bazaar in Kushtia town, while they were holding a secret meeting. Police also recovered two kilograms of a white powder, which is yet to be identified. Police claimed that among those arrested, six were top-level leaders of the outfit, including two alleged militant trainers who are also policy-makers of the group. Police said it was their monthly gathering, where several top leaders went there to indoctrinate the youth. Police sources said a large number of trained HuT militants are active in Kushtia, Meherpur, Chuadanga and Jhenidah of Khulna division. Other sources said at least 1200 trained cadres of the outfit are active in the region. Most of them are madrassa students belonging to poor families and Imams of mosques. According to a press report published a few months earlier, the security agencies have listed 29 Islamic extremist organisations for suspected involvement in militancy and HuT is one of them.

The Jessore Police arrested nine Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS) cadres including the party's Jessore District unit president in Baniargati Girls madrassa, on militancy charges. They were identified as Jessore District unit ICS president Abdullah-Al-Mamun and activists Shafiqul Islam, Iqbal Hossain, Mominur Rahman, Rabiul Islam, Mostaq Ahmed, Hadiuzzaman, Saiful Islam and Jahangir Hossain.

April 18

A court in Kushtia sent 31 Hizb-ut Towhid cadres, including its regional chief, to jail. These militants had been arrested on April 17 from the outfit’s office ‘Pather Disha’ at Barabazaar in the Kushtia town while holding a secret meeting.

April 19

A JMB regional leader was arrested from a remote village on the bank of Teesta river in the Jaldhaka Sub-District of Nilaphamari District. The arrested militant, identified as Moshiur Rahman (38) of Purba Balagram village, had reportedly gone into hiding four months ago. Police recovered Jihadi books, leaflets and other materials from his possession.

Akbar Hossain Khan, a Field Officer with the National Security Intelligence, was arrested in connection with the April 2004 seizure of 10 truckloads of arms meant for the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA). Bangladesh authorities have revived investigations into the seizures case recently. A Criminal Investigation Department official said that Akbar Hossain Khan "is now being interrogated after he was remanded in custody for two days under a court order following his arrest." The investigations have revealed that Hossain had hired the 10 trucks under a fake name to carry the weapons. Investigators had earlier questioned 26 Navy officials, who were serving at that time in Coastguard on deputation. Officials said there was a deliberate attempt on the part of the then administration under former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led government to suppress facts in the case.

April 20

Six suspected JMB militants, including two women, were arrested from Jamalpur town. A joint team of the RAB personnel and Police raided a house at Phulbaria Munshipara and arrested Abdus Salam (25) of Daspara in Tangail District, Mizanur Rahman (21) of Gopinathpur in Jamalpur, Mohammad Zakaria (28) of Krishnapur in Sherpur, Rabeya Begum (23), Tareque Mostafa Masum (29) and Syeda Halima Yasmeen (age not specified) of Moghbazar in capital Dhaka. The militants had rented the ground floor of the three-storey house at Munshipara around one and a half months ago.

The Government formed a 17-member high-profile committee to tackle militancy in the country and mobilise public opinion against militant activities. The committee which is led by State Minister for Home Tanjim Ahmed Sohel Taj is comprised of top officials of seven ministries and law enforcement and intelligence agencies. Home ministry sources said the committee will evaluate the procedure for investigation into all major subversive acts carried out in the country.

April 21

Police intensified security around the United Nations (UN) and other foreign aid agencies after regional offices of the UN and International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC) received militant threats at Barisal. "We enforced tight security around the UN, UNICEF and IFRC offices, deploying extra forces and installing makeshift check points," said Nurunnabi Chowdhury, officer in charge of the Kotwali Police station in Barisal city. The intensified security came as suspected JMB activists sent letters to the regional offices of the two organizations, asking them to shut down their offices or "face death".

Seven Dawat-e-Islami members arrested on April 13 from at Nijumiah Lane in Patharghata of Chittagong for suspected link with militant activities were acquitted of charge and released. The investigation officer maintained that the arrested persons have no association with any militant organisations and anti-state activities.

April 23

Security Forces arrested 22 suspected militants, most of them women, in a raid in the south-western Barisal District soon after enforcing stepped up vigil around foreign missions following threats from Islamist extremists. The RAB arrested 22 suspected militants, including 21 women, while they were holding a meeting early morning in the District town, 117-km north of the capital Dhaka.

April 26

Police arrested a suspected JMB cadre at Ukilpara Mahalla in the Nagaon town. The arrested militant, Abdul Gaffer was described as a close accomplice of Bangla Bhai, the executed leader of the outfit. Police sources said that the arrested militant had established a torture camp at his house at the behest of Bangla Bhai in 2004.

April 28

A top-listed cadre of the PBCP-Janajuddha, identified as Siddiqur Rahman alias Biplob (28), was killed during an encounter between the RAB personnel and PBCP extremists at Ramchandrapur village in the Jhenidah District. A RAB trooper and a Policeman were injured during the encounter, which occurred when Security Forces raided a PBCP hideout in search of a trader who was abducted by the extremists on April 27 from Ganna union of the District. A revolver, four round bullets, one shutter gun, one motorcycle, two mobile phones, two hand bombs and a mobile SIM were recovered from the incident site.

PBCP cadres killed a local leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami in Ullapara Sub-District of Sirajganj District. The slain Jamaat leader has been identified as Saiful Islam of Aligram village who was president of the Baro Pangashi union unit of the JeI.

April 29

Quoting intelligence sources, Daily Star reported that four Islamist militant outfits are regrouping their cadres in 12 Districts in the south-western region of the country. 40 top ranking militant leaders are overseeing the activities of nearly 10,000 cadres in these Districts, the report added. This information has been provided by 31 cadres of the Hizb-ut Towhid who were arrested from Kushtia District last week. The outfits active in these Districts have been identified as the Allahr Dal, JMB, HuJI-B and Hizb-ut Towhid. Their activities have been reported from ten Districts of Khulna division -- Kushtia, Meherpur, Jhenidah, Magura, Chuadanga, Jessore, Khulna, Narail, Bagerhat and Satkhira and in two Districts of Dhaka division - Rajbari and Faridpur.

A suspected suicide squad member of the JMB, identified as Sheikh Shahjahan (43), was arrested at national capital Dhaka’s Shyampur locality. Police sources said he was a charge-sheet-accused in the case filed in connection with a bomb blast at the JMB leader Rifat's house in Sylhet Kotwali on September 26, 2001.

Abed Ali, a victim of JMB’s torture campaign in 2004, filed a case against approximately 70 people, including two former ministers and a parliamentarian belonging to the BNP, with a court in the Bagmara Sub-District of Rajshahi District. The BNP leaders have been identified as former Post and Telecommunication Minister Aminul Haque, former Deputy Minister Ruhul Kuddus Talukhdar Dulu and former parliamentarian Nadim Mostafa. Abed Ali had been maimed by the JMB militants after he refused to pay them extortion money.

May 2

A GMF cadre identified as Rafir Uddin, was killed by cadres of the rival Gono Bahini outfit at Balarampur village in the Kushtia District. A note left on his body accused the slain extremist of killing a cadre of the Gono Bahini in Alamdanga months ago.

May 3

A PBCP- Janajuddha cadre, Altaf Hossain Fakir (32), was killed by rivals within the same outfit in the Faridpur Sub-District of Pabna District. Family members of the slain extremist told Police that a group of armed PBCP cadres came to his house and shot him dead.

Sahab Uddin, the former Director (security) of National Security Intelligence (NSI), the civilian intelligence agency, was arrested from the national capital Dhaka’s Green Road for his alleged involvement in arranging transport and equipment for carrying the illegal arms and ammunition seized in Chittagong on April 2, 2004. Sahab Uddin, a wing commander of the Bangladesh Air Force who joined the NSI on deputation, had gone into voluntary retirement soon after the arms haul. The arrest was made after detained NSI Field Officer Akbar Hossain Khan in a confessional statement before a magistrate on April 2 said that he hired seven trucks and a crane from Greenways, a transport agency, for carrying the arms and ammunition on orders of Sahab Uddin.

May 4

RAB personnel recovered arms, ammunition, bombs and bomb making materials from a nursery at Hamidpur in the Jessore District. The seizure included three locally made guns, ten bullets, one kilogram gunpowder, 500 gram explosives, bombs and an unspecified quantity of bomb making material.

May 9

A cadre of the PBCP-Janajuddha, identified as Saidur Rahman (32) was killed in a shootout between RAB personnel and PBCP cadres at Khaskarra village in Alamdanga Sub-District of Chuadanga on May 9. The PBCP cadres were holding a meeting at a mango orchad when RAB carried out the raid. A revolver, three bombs and 20 bullets were recovered from the site.

Police arrested seven Hizb-ut-Tahrir cadres from the Badda area of national capital Dhaka and recovered leaflets containing provocative statements over the BDR mutiny. A laptop, some CDs and a banner were also recovered during the raid.

May 10

Police arrested a JMB ehsar (full time) cadre, identified as Mohammad Yunus (32), at Basail Sub-District. Police sources said Yunus had been absconding since the country-wide serial bomb blasts on August 17, 2005. He was involved in arms loot and assault on Police in Joypurhat, bomb blasts at four cinema halls in Mymensingh, and bomb blast on Netrakona Udichhi (a cultural centre) premises.

RAB personnel seized chemicals and other materials used for making bombs and leaflets of Hijb-ut Tawhid from Jameya Arabia Khwaja Moeenuddin madrassa (seminary) compound in the Barisal city. The recovered items include half a kilogram of chemicals, six capacitors, one six-volt battery, electric circuit boards, a watch, components of a watch, a remote control unit, large marbles and splinters and 13 leaflets.

Yunus Ali (32), a JMB coordinator for the greater Mymensingh District, was arrested at his uncle's house at Habla Dakkhin Para village in the Basail Sub-District of Tangail District. He had been absconding since the serial bomb blasts across the country on August 17, 2005.

May 11

Left-wing extremists belonging to the Nakshal Bahini killed one of their colleagues at a crowded market at Shibpur village in the Atghoria Sub-District of Pabna District. The slain extremist was identified as Jamal (30) of Durgapur village.

Altaf Hossain Master (42), a fugitive JMB cadre, was arrested at his house at Konopara in the Bagmara Sub-District of Rajshahi District.

May 12

The Government announced zero tolerance against militancy, terrorism and any attempt to disrupt the law and order situation as a 17-member National Committee on Militancy Resistance and Prevention held a meeting at the Home Ministry. State Minister for Home Affairs Sohel Taj said a three-phase programmes will be undertaken in short, medium and long terms to deal with a twin-problem posed by militancy and terrorism. "Militancy is under control but that does not mean it does not exist," Taj added as reports come in almost every day about the arrest of suspects. He also said since militants operate beyond geographical boundaries, the Government will share information and experience with neighbouring countries to deal with the problem.

May 13

RAB personnel arrested four armed cadres of the PBCP- ML faction from Radhuni hotel at Moilapota Road under Sonadanga Police Station in Khulna District. According to RAB sources, the extremists were caught while receiving Taka 3,000 from a businessman.

May 14

RAB personnel arrested 'Boma Mizan', described as the explosives expert of the JMB from a house at Taltola in national capital Dhaka’s Mirpur area. Mizan’s wife attempted to evade arrest by exploding a bomb which critically injured her and two of her children. Around 100 RAB personnel including top-ranking officers participated in the raid. A pistol, two bombs, two grenades, several rounds of ammunition, and bomb-making materials were recovered from the house. According to RAB sources, Mizan was involved in the countrywide serial blasts on August 17, 2005.

May 15

RAB personnel neutralised a mini-munitions factory of the JMB from East Monipur in national capital Dhaka’s Mirpur locality and recovered a huge cache of bombs and bomb-making materials. The raid was carried out following information obtained from detained JMB explosives expert 'Boma Mizan' and his wife Sharmin, who had been arrested on May 14. The recovered items included 11 bombs, a pistol, and a huge stash of chemical residues, plastic explosives, grenade casings, fuses and detonators. The RAB sources said that the seized materials could be used to make at least 1,000 bombs.

May 18

Four suspected JMB cadres, arrested earlier on May 17 night, were sent to jail by a court in Kushtia.

JMB’s explosives expert 'Boma' Mizan told his interrogators that the outfit had close links with Rohingya Solidarity Organisation (RSO), an insurgent group in the Arakan state of Myanmar. RAB interrogators told that Mizan and some other JMB operatives received training from RSO arms experts in a camp near Myanmar border in 2002. In exchange for the firearms lessons, JMB trained Rohingyas to manufacture improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Mizan also told that the HuJI-B too had strong linkages with the RSO.

May 19

Kotwali Police in the Faridpur District recovered two firearms and 27 bullets from a water body in the Sree Angayan area of the town. The items recovered include one SBLL foreign gun, one shooter gun, 10 shotgun bullets and 17 Chinese rifle bullets.

May 21

The national probe committee on Bangladesh Riffles (BDR) mutiny did not find any militant, political or foreign links to the carnage at Pilkhana headquarters. "BDR jawans committed the murders on their own. Our investigation did not find any involvement of outsiders--political leaders, militants or foreign forces," an unnamed member of the Government probe body told. According to the 309-page inquiry report submitted to Home Minister Sahara Khatunon, the BDR rank and file already had grievances pent up for years. It also said the mutiny was continuation of the revolts in 1973 and 1991 over leadership in the border force, added the probe body member. Meanwhile, some unidentified sources close to the committee said that several BDR personnel had claimed the mutiny was part of their movement against discrimination by the Army officers deputed to BDR. In its report, the committee recommends that those responsible be tried under the military act for a speedy trial. It also suggests that BDR personnel should not be engaged in programmes like 'Operation Dal-Bhat', which was introduced to contain price hike of essentials during the caretaker Government rule. It also advised a further inquiry into the claims of foreign links.

May 22

PBCP cadres distributed leaflets in Bagmara and Durgapur Sub-Districts urging people to support their activities. They also pasted posters on walls of houses and educational institutions at Raghunathpur, Kismat Ganokoir, Badail, Koyamajompur, Ujankhalsi of Durgapur and Mohonganj, Mandipara and Jamloi of Bagmara, eyewitnesses said.

May 26

Security Force personnel arrested a former official of Bangladesh’s civilian intelligence agency, the National Security Intelligence (NSI), Major Liakat Hossain, in capital Dhaka in connection with the 2004 Chittagong arms recovery case. Liakat was the Deputy Director (Technical) of the NSI during the recovery and investigators in the Taskforce for Interrogation Cell said that he played a vital role in the planning of the arms deal. He had reportedly been dismissed from service in 2006.

May 28

Daily Star reported that the Islamist outfit Hizb-ut Towhid is expanding its network in the south-western Districts of Kushtia and Meherpur under the leadership of Anisur Rahman alias Chhana. Rahman and his aides are working to revamp the organisational structure of the outfit with the objective of working towards establishing Islamic rule in the country. According to sources, Anisur Rahman of Harekrishnapur in Kushtia District took over as the regional chief of the outfit following the arrest of its former chief Mahbubur Rahman. According to the report, in Kushtia, the militants are active in Kushtia housing, Mollahteghoria, Jugia, Barkhada, Talbaria and Barkhada areas, whereas in Meherpur while they have hideouts at Debipur, Chatian, Baout, Harbhanga, Karamdi and Katdah in Gangni Sub-District. The outfit’s hardcore cadres are visiting the remote villages with the objective of carrying out recruitment of illiterate and unemployed youths in the age bracket of 15 to 25.

Police arrested two Indians, including a suspected associate of underworld gangster Dawood Ibrahim, identified as Abdul Rauf Daud Merchant (37), from South Mourail in Brahammanbaria District, where he had been hiding in the guise of a Bangladeshi citizen for the last one month. The other person was identified as Mohammad Zahid. Police also arrested one Kamal Mian who provided shelter to Rauf. Rauf, who has been convicted for killing the Mumbai-based music baron Gulshan Kumar, managed a Bangladesh passport from a broker where his name was mentioned as Shomr Patel. The Police seized the passport and a driving license of Rauf. Sources also said another detainee Zahid is a top-listed criminal of India who had been hiding in Bangladesh for the last eight years. Zahid arranged the shelter for Abdul Rauf in the house of one Kamal Mian on the orders of Chhota Shakeel, a close associate of Dawood Ibrahim.

Police arrested an ICS cadre, identified as Saidur Rahman alias Saidur, from a Shibir-controlled student mess near the Rajshahi University campus. Sources said Saidur, who is a student of the Rajshahi University, was arrested in connection with two cases filed with the Motiher Police Station following violence in the Binodpur area near the campus on May 23.

May 29

Police recovered nine bombs from the Eidgah field in Brahmanbaria District headquarters. The explosives were lying abandoned in the field.

May 31

Police at Shibchar in the Madaripur District arrested a PBCP cadre on charges of stabbing his mother. A pistol and a round of bullet were recovered from the possession of the extremist, Abdul Jalil Mollah.

June 2

A suspected PBCP-Janajuddha extremist was killed at village Kuchiamora under Ataikula Police Station in the Pabna District. Police sources said Shipon Mondol of Kuchiamora was carrying a bomb, which suddenly exploded, killing him on the spot. Two other civilians were injured in the blast.

June 3

RAB personnel arrested three PBCP-Janajuddha extremists at Jhenidah Sadar Sub-District in Jhenidah. They were identified as Nazimuddin, regional leader of the faction, and Asmat and Montu, cadres of the outfit. Five guns, 24 bullets and eight bombs were also recovered from their possession. During his interrogation, Nazimuddin confessed about his involvement in the February 27 killing of Golam Kibria of Ashwasthali village, the March 8 killing of Enamul Haq of Suti Durgapur village and the April 16 killing of Abdul Goni of Mirzapur village in 2009.

June 7

Police in Bangladesh arrested Arif alias Chachcha, a key aide of fugitive Pakistan-based gangster Dawood Ibrahim, from the Mohammadpur area of national capital Dhaka. Arif, one of the top operatives of the Dawood network in Bangladesh, was living in Dhaka under the false identity of an Urdu-speaking stranded Pakistani community or Bihari since 2001, after he fled India to evade a murder charge. Arif has been placed under an eight-day Police remand under a court order to be interrogated for information about the network. During initial interrogation, officials said Arif disclosed that he was in constant touch with Dawood's second-in-command Chhota Shakeel. He further said the Dawood network in Bangladesh involves over 100 men including both Indian nationals and some "influential Bangladeshis". Arif had married a Bangladeshi woman and he was receiving Taka 60,000 per month from Chhota Shakeel, intelligence sources said.

Two Parbatiya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samiti (PCJSS) activists were abducted by armed cadres of the United Peoples Democratic Front (UPDF) from Dhalyachhari in the Rangamati District. The abducted PCJSS activists are Sunirmal Dewan (28), president of Jibtali unit of the Pahari Chhatra Parishad (PCP), a student front of PCJSS, and local PCJSS activist Bijimoni Chakma.

June 8

Security Force personnel arrested four UPDF activists along with some arms and ammunition at Dullatali under Laxmichhari Sub-division of the Khagrachhari District. One pistol and four bullets were recovered from their possession. The arrestees were identified as Mongchinu Marma (38), commander of UPDF Rangamati unit, and the UPDF’s Laxmichhari sub-division unit members Jiten Chakma (25), Nidonda Chakma (43) and Nikon Chakma (35).

June 9

Police recovered five bombs from the house of one Alauddin at Gazipur village in the Jessore District.

June 10

Daily Star reported that investigators have reportedly started questioning the former Director (Security) of the NSI, Wing Commander (retd) Sahab Uddin, in remand for the third time in connection with the Chittagong arms haul case. The Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which is investigating the case, took the ex-NSI Director for interrogation to CID Chittagong divisional headquarters at Dampara Police Lines. Sahab Uddin was remanded for four days on May 3 in arms smuggling case -- one of the two cases filed under section-25/B of the Special Power Act and section-19 (ka) of the Arms Act. CID sources said the investigators would try to know about the origin and destination of the firearms and ammunition seized in the early hours of April 2, 2004.

June 11

A Chittagong court sentenced three JMB militants to imprisonment in connection with the serial bomb blasts at Bakolia on August 17, 2005. The convicts were identified as Javed Iqbal alias Mohammad, the JMB ‘divisional commander’ in Chittagong, Jahid alias Delwar and Arshadul Alam. Javed and Jahid were awarded 10 years imprisonment each while Arshadul was jailed for five years.

June 13

RAB personnel arrested a PBCP-Janajuddha regional chief, identified as Ibrahim Khalil (35), from Baparipara area of Jhenidah District. Two firearms and three bullets were recovered from his possession.

A PBCP regional leader was killed by rivals within the same outfit at Mongolgram village of Faridpur Sub-District of Pabna. Police identified the slain extremist as Mostak Hossain alias Mosto (35), of Mannan Nagar village.

June 14

Police arrested a JMB militant at Kharagpur village at Shibganj in the Chapainawabganj District. A shutter gun, five rounds of bullets and four Islamic books were recovered from the arrested militant Abdul Mobin.

Manikganj District Police arrested a JMB militant from a rented house at Dashara village. He was identified as Shafiqul Islam (26) of Salam Bepari of Moamari village under Nageswari Police station in the Kurigram District. Shafiqul said that he came to the village to spread the JMB ideology and recruit cadres about six months ago. Initially he was sheltered by a leader of the Manikganj District unit Jamaat-e-Islami at Bewtha and later he rented the house at Dashara.

June 16

Two suspected GMF cadres were killed by cadres belonging to the rival Jasod Gono Bahini (JGB) group inside a female dormitory of the Islamic University in Kushtia. The slain extremists were identified as Sher Ali (30) and Abdul Awal (32) of Diknagar village under Sailkupa Sub-District in Jhenidah District. Police recovered a slip written by JGB cadres claiming responsibility for the killing.

June 17

Police arrested two JMB cadres from two villages of Chapainawabganj District and recovered two locally made guns, one revolver and four rounds of bullets. The duo were identified as Sumon Ali (24) of Shibnagar village under Shibganj Sub-District and Rabiul Islam (22) of Mushribhuza village under Bholahat Sub-District.

Quoting Police sources Daily Star reported that JMB militants have started regrouping in the remote villages of four Sub-Districts in Chapainawabganj. Police sources said JMB cadres who had fled their localities during the crackdown after the August 17 serial bomb blasts in 2005 have returned to their areas in Shibganj, Bholahat, Gomostapur and Sadar Sub-Districts and are currently trying to recruit new cadres.

June 20

RAB personnel arrested a suspected JMB militant from the remote Binnakure village in the Muktagacha Sub-District of Mymensingh District. The arrested militant was identified as Hazrat Ali (26), who the Police described as a convict absconding in a "JMB connected case".

A JMB gayeri ehsar (part-time member) said in an interview that the militant group had taken part in the Kansat movement in Shibganj Sub-District of Chapainawabganj District in April 2006 because they felt betrayed by the then BNP-led coalition Government. He said 500 local JMB full-time and part-time members took part in the movement to destroy Government property and set alight several Government cars.

June 21

RAB personnel arrested Emranul Haque alias Rajib, chief of the information technology (IT) wing of the JMB, from his residence in the Pallabi area of national capital Dhaka. Another JMB ehsar (full-time member), Abu Bakar Siddiqui alias Abu Hanif, was also arrested with Emranul Haque. Five detonators, two casings of grenade, one high resolution binocular, one laptop, a number of jihadi books and some bomb-making materials were also seized during the raid.

JMB's Gayre Ehsar (part-time) members Mohammad Saiful Islam (28) and Shirin Shapla (18), wife of another detained JMB 'Ehsar' member David, were arrested from Muktagaccha in the Mymensingh District.

An unidentified senior RAB official told Daily Star that some key JMB members, wanted in the list of law enforcement agencies, are now staying in Pakistan for taking military trainings or joining any militant group in that country. He said that RAB has information about at least two full-time JMB cadres who have been staying in Pakistan for the last three months.

June 22

A Special Tribunal sentenced six NDFB militants to 10 years imprisonment for trespassing into Bangladesh territory along with arms. The militants identified as Shambhu, Mohiswar, Urarao, Jibon, Harkumar and Khandou, all in their early 20s, had been arrested by the BDR personnel from the house of one Imrul Sangma at Burunga border village of Nalitabari Sub-District in the Sherpur District. Acting on their confessional statement, a large quantity of automatic weapons, ammunition and explosives had been recovered from near the house.

June 23

A JMB cadre, identified as Shafiqul Islam, arrested from a rented house at Dashara village in the Manikganj District on June 14 provided his interrogators information about the Islamist outfit Allahr Dal. He said many of the Allahr Dal cadres are currently active in Manikganj. After the arrest of the outfit’s chief Matin Mehdi, Ibrahim Ahmed Hero of Pabna is now heading the Allar Dal. He further claimed that the outfit does not engage in criminal activity, but merely tries to convince people to follow the Holy Quran. Police sources subsequently confirmed that more than 20 cadres of the Allahr Dal are active in Manikganj.

June 24

Amir Ali of Maddha Jhina village in Rajshahi District, a victim of the torture campaign of the JMB lodged a case against 38 JMB cadres in Rajshahi. Among the JMB militants against whom case was filed were 'advisers' of the outfit, Lutfar Rahman, Abdus Sattar and Mahtab Khamaru, and cadres Mostafizur Rahman, Mamunur Rashid, Morshed and Enamul Haque. Armed JMB cadres had abducted Amir Ali on April 7, 2004 and looted his house. Amir had to subsequently pay Taka 35,000 for his release.

June 28

Two Allahr Dal militants were arrested from Hajipur Gayenpara in the Narsingdi town. The duo was identified as Saiful Islam Ripon (30) and Mohammad Hanif (28), both active cadres of the outfit. Jihadi books of the outfit were recovered from their possession. During Police interrogation, Ripon said that at least 27 Allahr Dal cadres are working in the Narsingdi District.

June 30

The Naogaon Detective Branch (DB) of Police arrested Shariatullah Simar, one of the top associates of JMB’s executed leader Siddikul Islam alias Bangla Bhai, from Baludanga Bus Stand in Naogaon District town. 42-year old Simar, as the in-charge of Bangla Bhai's torture camp at Bheti Madrassa in Naogaon in 2004, was involved in a number of killings and incidents of torture. Bangla Bhai's gang led by Simar killed development worker Ziaul Haq Zia of Abadpukur in Raninagar at Bheti camp on November 13, 2004. A gang led by Simar had also killed Idris Ali Khejur in May 2004.

Intelligence officials along with local Police also arrested Sajedur Rahman alias Hanif, a regional commander of the Islam O Muslim. According to the Special Branch, Islam and Muslim had a plan to dominate an area comprised of several sub-divisions of Chapainawabganj, Rajshahi and Naogaon. Intelligence officials also seized some books on Jihad during their raid. Following information collected from the two arrestees, the Special Branch’s anti-militancy unit later arrested Jalaluddin alias Jalal, the Bagmara upazila JMB commander, from Bagmara in Rajshahi District along with an Indian single-shot gun and five rifle bullets.

July 2

Daily Star reported that the Special Branch (SB) of Police in Gazipur arrested Abdur Rahim alias Shahadat, the chief organiser of "Islam and Muslim", a new offshoot of the JMB on an unspecified date.

July 4

Police personnel recovered a Pakistan made rifle following the confessional statement by an arrested GMF cadre, Samrat, from Mangolbaria area in Khulna District. Samrat had been arrested from a hideout in Kushtia town along with four associates on July 1. Police had recovered three foreign made pistols and 22 bullets from their possession.

July 6

RAB personnel arrested four PBCP-Janajuddha cadres from Earshadpur secondary school ground under Alamdanga Sub-District in Chuadanga. According to RAB sources, the arrested extremists Amirul Islam alias Pancha, his wife Rehena Begum, Tahaj Uddin and Shahidul Islam had abducted a civilian Abul Hossain on July 3 night from Jhenidah town and had demanded Taka One million as ransom from his family. They were arrested while collecting the ransom amount and the abducted person was also rescued subsequently.

A joint team of RAB and BDR personnel arrested Selim alias Saifullah, the second-in-command and military affairs commander of the Islam O Muslim, at Belpara in Chapainawabganj. RAB sources said that Selim was arrested after an encounter with the Police. A pistol, nine bullets, three bullet shells and two empty magazines were recovered from the encounter site. Selim, RAB sources said, had allegedly fled to India after the arrest of Islam O Muslim’s chief Abdur Rahim alias Shahadat.

July 9

RAB and Police personnel in separate raids arrested four GMF cadres in the Kushtia town. Arms and ammunition, including one LG gun, one shutter gun, one revolver, four swords, three knives and 65 bullets were recovered from the arrested extremists. The extremists were identified as Alamin Hossain, Rakib, Imran Hossain and Sohag.

July 13

A 'regional leader' of the BCP, identified as Kadir Gazi, was killed by unidentified assailants at Siddipasha under Abhaynagar Sub-District in Jessore. The slain extremist is also one of the main accused in a triple murder case.

Joynal Hossain, a cadre of the Lal Pataka faction of the PBCP, was killed by his rivals within the outfit at Kastdah in the Gangni Sub-District of Meherpur District.

Three suspected JMB militants were arrested from a house at Akur Takurpara locality in Tangail town. The arrested militants were identified as Abdur Rouf (20) of Roumari in Kurigram and Mahbub Hasan (18) of Bhuapur in Tangail. Books on Jihad were recovered from their possession. Police also arrested the house owner Abdur Rahman, 30, for his alleged links with the suspected JMB cadres.

RAB personnel recovered two bombs from the residence of JMB ehsar (full-time cadre) Abu Musa alias Ali Hossain (40) at West Tootpara in Khulna District. RAB personnel had arrested Musa and another ehsar Abdus Salam near Khulna City College on July 7. Police sources said the bombs were recovered following confessional statement of Musa during interrogation.

July 15

The RAB arrested four militants of the banned Islamist outfit JMB at Rupnagar, Kanchpur in Narayanganj and in Jamalpur area of the capital Dhaka during the last three days. The RAB personnel also recovered 38 shells of grenades and a large number of books on jihad. The arrestees were identified as Ehsar (full time cadres) Kurri Mohammad Saidur Rahman and Mohammad Akkas Ali alias Akash (25) of Muktagachha in Mymensingh District, Gayeri Ehsar (part time cadres) Mohammad Rokanuzzaman of Jamalpur and member Mohammad Saidur Miah of Jamalpur. RAB officials said the militants were preparing to launch grenade attacks. They also said that some of the JMB cadres have been trying to organise a separate JMB platform called Islam O Muslim.

A team of the RAB arrested five cadres of the Janajuddha faction of the PBCP, including a regional leader, and recovered firearms, ammunition and explosives from them at a hotel in Chuadanga District. The arrestees were identified as Sahanur Joardar, regional leader of Shailkupa Sub-District, Miron, Faruq, Selim and Saiful of Jhenidah District. RAB said that they came to hold a meeting with Janajuddha cadres of Chuadanga and adjacent areas in a bid to reorganise the outfit.

July 16

The RAB neutralised an arms factory at Debitala under Batiaghat Sub-District in Khulna District. RAB personnel also arrested three persons on the spot and recovered three pipe guns, five barrels of pipe gun, one cartridge, springs, blades and small saws. The arrestees were identified as Rabiul Islam Akunji, Delwar Hossain and Mintu Sheikh. They were being interrogated at the RAB-6 headquarters in Khalishpur.

A military investigation found 3000 jawans’ (personnel) involvement in the BDR mutiny case. Military Intelligence recently completed screening around 8000 BDR jawans who were inside Pilkhana during the mutiny, sources said. Through the screening, 3,000 BDR jawans were found involved in criminal offences during the mutiny, including murder, looting, arson, and torture.The chargesheet in the case might be submitted in mid-September by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). "We're working hard to submit the charge sheet by August, but it might not be possible as the task is quite huge," said a source in the CID which is tasked with investigating the case. A CID investigator said about 100 BDR troops might have been directly involved in the killings of army officers during the mutiny. The Investigation Officer of the case, CID's Senior Assistant Superintendent Abdul Kahar Akand said they arrested 1706 persons so far, most of whom are BDR jawans who were present at the headquarters during the mutiny, and 267 of them already gave confessional statements. In the aftermath of the mutiny, 40 cases were filed in 28 Districts outside the capital and a total of 1,721 BDR jawans were arrested on charges of mutiny outside the headquarters.

July 17

The Detective Branch (DB) of Police arrested a listed cadre of banned Islamist militant outfit JMB from a house at Rasulpur in the Satkhira District town. The arrestee was identified as Hasanuzzaman Hasan, son of Maulana Mahfuzur Rahman of Tengra Bhabanipur village in Sadar Sub-District. DB sources said that Hasan went into hiding soon after the August 17 serial bomb blasts in 2005 and recently, he came to the area. Talking to journalists, Hasan said he was an active JMB cadre but later he left the outfit as his father had asked him to cut off all relations with militancy.

The Pakistan-based LeT has been active in Bangladesh for the last 14 years, intelligence sources said quoting one of the most wanted Indian terrorists recently arrested in the capital Dhaka. Local leaders of the outfit have links to the network of absconding Indian underworld gangster Dawood Ibrahim, and also to leaders of other Islamist militant outfits like the HuJI-B, sources added.

The DB of Police disclosed that they recently arrested an Indian national who is very close to the LeT, and is also one of the most wanted persons by the Indian law enforcing and intelligence agencies. Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner A.K.M. Shahidul Hoque said the arrestee has been identified as Mufti Obaidullah, who has been staying in Bangladesh since 1995.  "He was arrested from the capital and was taking preparations for a jihad by organising Bangladeshi mujahids with directives from Ameer Reza, a leader of the Jammu and Kashmir based LeT, who is an Indian national now staying in Pakistan," the DMP Commissioner said. Obaidullah reportedly took part in the Afghan jihad four times and he was active in the militancy in India, in collaboration with militants from Pakistan and Afghanistan. He also collaborated with Islamist militants of Jammu and Kashmir, Varanasi, Punjab, and Hyderabad in India, said the DMP Commissioner, adding that Obaidullah came to Bangladesh to evade Indian intelligence after the Government of India in 1994 had declared him a most wanted person. Obaidullah, in detention, said he came to Bangladesh only to hide, and brought his family into the country later. He admitted that he is one of the most wanted persons in India, and said four other most wanted Indians are also hiding in Bangladesh. "In 1994, Indian commandos went to West Bengal from Delhi by helicopters to arrest me, but I managed to evade arrest and later left India," Obaidullah added. He also reportedly managed to get a Bangladeshi national identity card, and cast votes in several elections, Obaidullah said.

July 19

Rajshahi Police arrested Belal Hossain, an aide to JMB executed leader Siddiqul Islam Bangla Bhai, from Raninagar in Naogaon area.  Belal was reportedly on the run for a long time. The Superintendent of Police in Naogaon said Belal faces several extortion cases and had been arrested twice before.

Personnel of the RAB arrested an arms trader and seized a 9-mm Chinese pistol, five bullets and two magazines from him at Boro Shyampur in the Puthia Sub District of Rajshahi District. The arrestee was identified as M. Sohel Rana of Masjidpara in the Chapainawabganj District.

The Government will launch a special drive in the country's south-western Districts soon to combat re-emergence of outlawed outfits in the wake of growing incidents of killings in the region in recent months. Home Ministry officials said a decision to carry out the operation in 10 south-western Districts was taken in June 2009 but couldn't be executed due to the constraint of forces as several thousand Policemen had to be deployed in the trouble-torn Ashulia to quell the labour unrest. At least 130 persons were killed in the region in the past six months in 2009 against only 24 in the last six months of 2008, said Police sources. A total of 21 people were killed in the first 15 days of July. At least a dozen outlawed outfits are active in the region with an unspecified number of illegal firearms under their possession. These outfits have around 5000 cadres belonging to the following breakaway factions of the PBCP: Janajuddha, PBCP-Red Flag, PBCP-Communist War, BCP, NBCP, GB, GMF, Banglar Communist Party, Socialist Party (SP), Biplobi Anuragi, CCP and Sharbahara People's Mancha (SPM). The Superintendent of Police of Kushtia District, Shahabuddin Khan, said these splinter groups are back again and have intensified their activities. "Usually, various law enforcement agencies conduct drives in the region separately but a combined operation will surely yield better result," he added.

Four senior LeT militants who are hiding in Bangladesh are also serving as teachers in different madrassas (seminaries) of the country providing their fake identities like detained Mufti Obaidullah, Detective Branch (DB) sources said. Of the four, Indian national Moulana Mansur Ali and Pakistani national Moulana Habibullah, are teachers of two madrassas in capital Dhaka while two others are outside the capital. Sources, however, refused to disclose the names of two other Indian fugitive militants. The Police are also looking into whether Obaidulla had links to the August 21 grenade attack on an Awami League rally, and bomb attacks at Ramna Batamul and Udichi function in Jessore. DB sources said on the first day of his seven-day remand, Mufti Obaidullah confessed that the LeT and Asif Reza Commando Force (ARCF) expanded their networks through former militants who fought in Afghanistan and Jammu and Kashmir and also through the students of Deoband madrassa. Sources suspect that qawmi madrassas have a vital role in setting up of the network as these madrassas gave them shelter and teaching jobs by accepting fake identities. Besides, among the militant outfits active in the country, the Indian militants have closest links with leaders of the HuJI-B, sources added.

July 20

Two youths were injured in an accidental bomb explosion in the Sayedabad area of capital Dhaka. Locals said the incident occurred when the victims, Mohammed Nadim and Jummon Ali, were preparing the bombs on the 3rd floor of an under-construction building at Swamibagh.

The RAB Khulna-6 team arrested a young man and recovered three firearms and 14 bullets from his possession at Mahmudpur village in the Satkhira District.

The former chief of the banned HuJI-B outfit, Shariful Islam Maulana Sheikh Abdus Salam, who was arrested in connection with the 2001 CPB rally blast case, was released on bail from the Dhaka Central Jail. Jail officials said they received an order for his release from the Sessions Judge's Court, Dhaka, which issued the bail order. "Receiving the bail order, we reported it to different intelligence agencies for checking as Salam allegedly has links with a banned militant organisation. On receiving clearance from the intelligence agencies we released him around 3:00pm," Deputy Jailer Kamrul Islam said.

The Home Ministry ordered an intelligence agency to investigate the setting up of a charity called Faruqi Welfare Foundation by the HuJI-B. The Foundation obtained a certificate from the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms on June 29, 2008.

The Detective Branch of Police has arrested another Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militant from a madrassa (seminary) in the Dakkhin Khan area of the capital Dhaka. The arrestee was an Indian national identified as Maulana Mohammad Mansur Ali. He was also an organiser of the Asif Reza Commando Force (ARCF), the terrorist outfit responsible for the attack on American Centre in Kolkata, capital of the Indian State of West Bengal on January 22, 2002. Police arrested him following information obtained from Mufti Obaidullah, an Indian LeT operative arrested in Dhaka recently.

July 21

Police disclosed the arrest of another leader of the LeT, Moulana Habibullah. The Additional Deputy Commissioner of Detective BRanch, Walid Hossain, confirmed the arrest but did not give further details. Habibullah is believed to be the immediate superior of Mufti Obaidullah, who was arrested earlier.

The Gazipur Police recovered a bomb-like object from a field at East Enayetpur near the Kashimpur jail. Police said the substance was in a box along with circuit, electric wire and battery.

Police arrested 2083 persons on various charges in separate operations across the country in the last 24 hours as of 6:00am. Ten firearms and 23 bullets were also recovered during the countrywide operation, a press release of Police headquarters stated. Three cases were filed under the Arms Act while another under Explosive Act, it said.

The Satkhira District Police arrested a fugitive militant of the banned Islamist outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), identified as Montaz Ali alias Momtaz, from a shrimp enclosure at Sarulia village in Tala Sub District. Momtaz, son of Fazar Ali of village Kharibila, is an accused in the charge-sheet filed for August 17, 2005 serial bomb blast case.

July 22-23

Police arrested a Bangladeshi national with suspected links to the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) outfit at Kamalnagar in Satkhira town in the night of July 22. The arrestee, identified as Muhaddis Obaidullah, was produced in a Satkhira court, which placed him on a 10-day Police remand for interrogation. His arrest followed leads from the arrested Indian national and a key organiser of the LeT, Mufti Obaidullah. Muhaddis is suspected to be an accomplice of Mufti Obaidullah who had taken shelter at his (Muhaddis) house in Satkhira after sneaking into Bangladesh in 1995. "We suspect Muhaddis Obaidullah is a hardcore militant since he had contacts with LeT organiser Mufti Obaidullah and talked to him even two months back," Satkhira Superintendent of Police S.M. Moniruzzaman said. Muhaddis confessed to the Police that he had come in contact with Mufti Obaidullah while studying at the Sangu Madrassa (seminary) in India for a year.

July 23

Unidentified assailants shot dead a cadre of the outlawed PBCP at Harinakunda in the Jhenaidah District. The victim was identified as Ajibar Mandal, 40, son of Shefatullah, of Udoinagar village under Islami University Police Station in Kushtia District. Quoting locals, Police said a group of four persons took Ajibar to an isolated brickfield at Teltupi village of Harianakunda Sub District where they shot him dead.

Another detained Indian national and a LeT organiser, Maulana Mohammad Monsur Ali alias Maulana Habibullah, confessed before the Police that he had expertise in making improvised mines and grenades. Ali said he had training for this when he took part in the war against Soviet forces in Afghanistan. Intelligence officials interrogating the two detained Indian nationals said that both of them used to get funds from the LeT and Asif Reza Commando Force (ARCF), through hundi (illegal money laundering mechanism). They also revealed that their main target was non-Muslim countries where Muslims are tortured.

July 26

A court in Sherpur District sentenced two JMB leaders and their three accomplices to life imprisonment for looting a local Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) office in 2003. The convicts were identified as JMB Dhaka divisional north unit commander Salahuddin alias Salehin and Sherpur District commander Mujahidul Islam Sumon and their accomplices Hasmat Ali, Kalu and Kashem Ali. The court, however, acquitted seven other accused as allegations brought against them could not be proved.

A suspected JMB cadre was arrested along with two Islamic books in front of the S M Hall of Dhaka University. He was identified as Mamun, who hails from Chandpur District. Police said residents of the dormitory caught Mamun at about 10:00pm while he was "moving suspiciously" on the campus. He was reportedly handed over to Police and later taken to the Shahbagh Police Station for interrogation.

July 28

Two top cadres of the PBCP-Red Flag were killed in a gun battle with the SFs in the Atrai sub-District of Naogaon District. They were identified as Abdus Salam alias Topu, who was the Naogaon regional chief of the outfit, and Jahangir alias Jalal, the outfit’s ‘military affairs commander’ in the Rajshahi region. Two soldiers sustained injuries in the incident.

Dhaka Police arrested more 1560 persons on various charges in separate drives across the country in last 24 hours until 6:00am (BST). Three home-made bombs, one gun and five bullets were also recovered during the countrywide drive, said a press release. Two cases were also filed under the Arms Act, it added.

July 30,

Two persons were killed when suspected left-wing extremists carried out a bomb attack at Purbabonogram village in the Pabna District. The victims were identified as Mohammed Abdur Razzak Pramanik, (52), and his nephew Abdus Sattar, (32), of Shakharipara village. Police suspect the Janajuddha faction of the Purba Banglar Communist Party might have launched the attack.

The Dhaka Police arrested 1582 more persons on various charges in separate drives across the country in the last 24 hours till 6:00am. Six bombs, three firearms and seven bullets were also recovered during the drive, said a press release. Four cases were also filed under the Arms Act, it added.

The Magura District Police recovered three bombs from a house at Borunatoil in Magura municipality area. Subsequently, Police also arrested the owner of the house, Tasiruddin, in this connection. 

July 31

A regional leader of the Janajuddha faction of Purba Banglar Communist Party was killed in an encounter with the SFs at Nabdah area in Chuadanga District. The deceased was identified as Mozam Ali. Subsequently, Police recovered one pistol and three bullets from the incident site.

August 1

Arrested Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militant Moulana Mansur Ali revealed during investigation that the India-based militant outfit ARCF, which works together with the LeT, supplied grenades to LeT-Bangladesh militant leader Moulana Tajuddin for the August 21 attack in 2004.

August 2

Three cadres of thePBCP (Janajuddha faction), including a regional leader, were killed in two separate incidents. Regional leader Jahangir Alam and a front ranking extremist of the outfit, identified as Yarul Islam, were shot dead in an encounter with the Police at Beel Amla area in the Mirpur District. Police said the duo were ‘most wanted’ outlaws in the District and belonged to Khalishakundi in the Daulatpur sub-district of Kushtia District. Subsequently, Police also recovered two pistols and 12 bullets from their possession. 

Another PBCP-Janajuddha cadre, identified as Nizamuddin alias Kosai Nizam, was lynched in the Sarishadanga Bazar area of Chuadanga District. Police said Nizam and his accomplices went to Sarishadanga Bazar at about 9:30pm to collect the money he had demanded from local businessmen. The businessmen, prepared to confront the gang, confined him in a shop and lynched him. Nizam's accomplices, however, managed to escape. Police also recovered a locally made gun with two bullets from his possession. Nizam was reportedly accused in nine cases, including four murders filed with the Alamdanga and Sadar Police Stations. 

SFs disclosed the arrests of six HuJI-B militants in the night of August 1 from areas in the capital and elsewhere in the country. The arrestees were identified as Abul Khair of Manikganj District, Maulana Mohammad Musa of Chandpur District, Abdul Aziz of Feni District, Rezaul Karim and Anwar Uddin Javed of Chakaria Sub-District in Cox's Bazaar District, and Abdullah Al Hossain of Banshkhali Sub-District in Chittagong District. They are all accused in different cases filed in connection with grenade and bomb attacks and militant activities in the last one decade.

The Intelligence agencies have reportedly come to know about the covert activities of an Islamist outfit in the country and its close links with the banned outfit JMB. Intelligence officials said they have only learnt the name of the new outfit, Jamaat-e-Muslimeen, and its "dawati" (invitational) activities. The JMB's explosives expert Zahidul Islam Sumon alias Boma Mizan revealed the name and the limited activities of Jamaat-e-Muslimeen to the SFs during his interrogation. He also revealed that a few cadres of the new outfit joined the JMB recently. Thought he did not reveal any information about the leadership and detailed activities of the Jamaat-e-Muslimeen, the SFs suspect the outfit is carrying out invitational activities under the banner of Dawat-e-Islami at different mosques in the capital. Dawat-e-Islami is on the list of 33 militant groups the security agencies have identified either for having direct involvement in militant activities or for suspected involvement in militancy in the country.

August 3

The Madaripur District Police arrested a woman, reportedly a cadre of the outlawed Sarbahara Dal, from Bandar area of Shibchar sub-district. While all the Sarbahara Dal cadres, including its gang leader Delwar, managed to escape from the incident site, Police arrested Delwar''s mother Anwara Begum and recovered a 9-mm pistol and five bullets from her possession. Police also recovered two more bullets during a subsequent search of the house.

August 4

A regional leader of the PBCP-Janajuddha, identified as Shahidul Islam alias Shahadat, was killed at village Mongolgram of Faridpur sub-district in the Pabna District. Police said his rivals chopped him to death at a field.

August 5

The arrested JMB militant, Zahidul Islam Sumon alias Boma, revealed before the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) that the outfit had planned to assassinate either Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina or former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia in its failed bid to foil the ninth parliamentary elections in December 2008. Boma was arrested from Mirpur in the capital Dhaka on May 14. Boma also told the interrogators that they had hired about a dozen JMB cadres from India to execute the plan. Boma also admitted that the JMB has a network in West Bengal in India which is weakening gradually. Boma also told the investigators that he used to communicate with Saif, a significant contact person in West Bengal, over phone. Saif, who reportedly still works for the JMB in India, is responsible for conducting Dawati (invitation to embrace same ideology) activities to recruit cadres for the Indian chapter. The RAB investigator said, "We had information that Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia might come under attack at their grand election rallies at Paltan. That's why the authorities provided them with bullet-proof lecture stand to ensure their security."

August 10

Three cadres of the outlawed Biplobi Communist Party were allegedly beheaded by rival militants of the outlawed Gono Bahini group in the Kushtia town. Police recovered three severed heads in front of the office of the Roads and Highways Department after being informed by the office staff at about 8:45am (BST). Police said Gono Bahini cadres committed the crime as they found a note left on the heads by the outfit claiming responsibility for the killings.

A regional leader of the PBCP-Janajuddha, identified as Abul Hashem, was hacked to death at Bokshipur village in the Pabna District. Police and locals said party rivals abducted Hashem from his village in the night of August 9. The Officer-in-charge of Pabna Police Station Motiur Rahman suspected that Hashem was killed due to an intra-party feud. "There were several cases including two of murder against him," the Officer said.

Police arrested 2755 persons on various charges in separate drives across the country in 24 hours as of 6:00am (BST). 11 firearms, three bombs and 16 bullets were also recovered during the drive, said a press release of the Police headquarters. Three cases were filed under the Arms Act, the report added.

Detained LeT operatives and Indian nationals - Mufti Obaidullah and Moulana Mohammad Mansur Ali - revealed that besides the local chapter of the HuJI-B, some political leaders have been helping the Pakistan-based militant outfit LeT to operate in Bangladesh. Investigators are now working to gather more about them, said sources in the intelligence and security agencies. Officials involved in the ongoing crackdown on militants said they have information that some politicians might have been sheltering LeT cadres as per secret deals with the terrorist group. Though the Security Forces had detained several LeT operatives in the past, they formally admitted the outfit's existence in Bangladesh only in July 2009 after the Detective Branch of Police arrested Obaidullah and Mansur.

August 11

The RAB personnel arrested two suspected cadres of the outlawed Sarbahara Party along with a foreign-made pistol and some bullets from the house of Karatia Union Parishad Chairman Khalekuzzaman Chowdhury Maznu at Karatia Purbopara village in the Tangail District. The duo was identified as 25-year old Ashikuzzanman Chowdhury alias Apu and 20-year old Ashraful Islam Talukdar alias Rony.

August 12

Rapid Action Battalion arrested five cadres, including a regional leader of the outlawed Gano Bahini, from Dhanuaghata village under Faridpur sub-district in Pabna District and recovered a shutter gun, four bullets and four sharp weapons from their possession. The arrestees were identified as Selim Reza alias Salim, Nayeb Ali, Amin Uddin, Saheb Ali and Sumon Ali, all hailing from Faridpur and Chatmohar Sub Disticts.

August 16

A severed head was recovered at a Kushtia village less than a week after Police had recovered three severed heads from the District town on August 10. Informed by the locals, Police recovered the cut-off head wrapped in a polythene bag lying beside the Kumarkhali-Kuthibari road near Choraikol village in Kumarkhali sub-district. The deceased could not be identified immediately. Police said they were searching for the body. On August 10, three cadres of the BCP were beheaded by their rivals Gono Bahini outfit in the Kushtia town.

The Divisional Speedy Trial Tribunal in Chittagong on August 16 sentenced the Chittagong divisional chief of the JMB, Javed Iqbal alias Mohammad, and one of his aides to 10-years rigorous Imprisonment in the August 17, 2005 Jhenidah serial bomb blasts case. Javed also faces a few more cases in the Chittagong Divisional Speedy Trial Tribunal that has already awarded him a total of 195 years of imprisonment in several cases, said Public Prosecutor Ayub Khan.

August 17

Police recovered 11 bombs from Battala Bazaar in under Muktagachha Sub District. Locals said that the incident might have links with the Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) as the locality is a JMB infested area.

A regional leader of the outlawed Lal Pataka faction of the PBCP, identified as Rana alias Babu, was arrested in Chuadanga District. One rifle, one shutter gun, six bullets and four bombs were recovered from his possession. Rana was recently organising the outfit in Kushtia and Chuadanga, Police and Rapid Action Battalion sources said. Accused in at least a dozen cases, including five for murder in Kushtia and Chuadanga, Rana was reportedly a listed militant in the area.

August 18

Police arrested 1,998 people on various charges in separate drives across the country in 24 hours as of 6:00am (BST). 16 firearms, 13 explosives and 70 bullets were also recovered during the drive, said a press release of Police headquarters. Some 387 cases were filed.

Five militants belonging to the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) were arrested from the Khagrachari area in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) District. They were identified as Oadhish Narzary (35), Pabitra Goyari (25), Dhiren Khakori (25), Jonathan Basumatary (35) and Pradeep (30).

Security sources said that the anti-talks faction of the NDFB, a group active in the State of Assam in north east India, headed by Ranjan Daimary have strong bases in Bangladesh. The outfit has at least 100 cadres in their bases in Bangladesh. Though the exact number of camps of the outfit in Bangladesh is yet to be ascertained, it is believed that the outfit is running at least 10 bases and some of the bases are in the Khagrachari area from where the five militants were reportedly arrested .

August 19

A ‘divisional commander’ of the outlawed PBCP-Janajuddha, identified as Lutfor Rahman, was killed in encounter with the SFs at Chhoygharia in the Satkhira District. Officer-in-Charge of the Sadar Police Station, Kamruzzaman, said that Lutfor was wanted in 12 cases, including three of murder, filed in the Tala, Dumuria, Kalaroa and Sadar Police Stations.

August 22

A regional leader of the PBCP-Janajuddha, identified as Naharul Islam, was killed in an encounter with the Police at Jagannathpur village in Kushtia District. After an hour-long encounter, Police recovered the dead body of Naharul along with one LG gun and 24 bullets from the incident site. However, the other militants managed to escape. Naharul was reportedly accused in at least 10 cases, including six of murder, Police said.

August 24

Nine ICS cadres of the Rajshahi University (RU) unit were arrested on charges of stabbing two BCL activists on June 10.

August 25

Kushtia Police engaged in an encounter with the cadres of the Gono Bahini at Milpara Shashan Ghat, as the cadres were crossing the Gorai River on boat around 4:30am (BST). Police recovered the dead body of regional unit 'commander' of the outfit Shahinur from the spot after his accomplices fled. Police also recovered one locally-made gun and 15 bullets from the spot. Kushtia Police said that Shahinur was accused of extortion, mugging and looting on the river ways.

In Magura District, Tota, a regional leader of the outlawed Sarbahara Party, was shot dead at Harishpur. Police said a joint team of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and Police raided a jute field in the area where Tota and his accomplice were holding a secret meeting around 2:00am. While Tota was killed, the rest of the cadres managed to flee. Subsequently, Police recovered a pistol, three rounds of bullets and two sharp weapons from the spot. Tota was an accused in 14 cases on various charges including murder, toll collection, and kidnapping.

A cadre of the PBCP-Janajuddha, identified as Abdus Salam, was killed by party rivals at Chithuliavillage under Dogasi Union in Pabna District. Police said rival cadres chopped Salam to death near his residence and threw his body in a nearby pond.

August 26

A regional leader of the Red Flag faction of the PBCP, identified as Rahat Khan alias Nipu alias Zia, was killed in a encounter with Policemen at 2:30am (BST) at Dearha village in the Khulna District. He was wanted in six cases, including two for murder and two for robbery. Subsequently, Police recovered a gun, four rounds of ammunition and some leaflets from the spot.

A Bangladeshi court in northern frontier District of Sherpur awarded 10 years of imprisonment to a ULFA militant, identified as Russel Sangma, for illegally possessing a huge quantity of ammunition. Sangma also faces another charge of intruding into Bangladesh, the trial for which is yet to be started. BDR troops arrested Sangma in September 2007 from a frontier village and seized large quantity of ammunition kept in two plastic barrels.

August 27

SFs arrested six left-wing extremists from three south-western Districts as a crackdown on the extremists continued amid an increasing number of killings in the region.

September 1

The arrested top leader of the India ARCF, Mufti Obaidullah, revealed during interrogation that militants fighting in Jammu and Kashmir have regularly used Bangladesh as a transit point to travel to Pakistan and have built safe havens in that country to shelter and train militants for terrorist operations in the region. Obaidullah said Pakistani militants crossed the Line of Control (LoC) to enter India to run terrorist operations and fight with Government forces in Jammu and Kashmir and then cross the border into Bangladesh to fly back to Pakistan. "As it was tough to cross back to Pakistan through the India-Pakistan border, the Mujahideen would cross to Bangladesh and then left for their destinations using fake passports and visas," the interrogation statement said. Obaidullah also said he had built a safe-home in Habiganj in 2002 to shelter fugitive terrorists, and recruit and train Bangladeshis to take part in terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, India and Pakistan.

September 2

Police arrested a leader of a local 'community policing forum', identified as Ismail Hossain alias Panger, for his alleged links with the Gono Bahini in the Kushtia District. Meanwhile, a group of people led by Jatyia Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) leaders claiming him to be a JSD activist tried to besiege the KushtiaDeputy Commissioner's office to press for his release. 20 people were injured as Police dispersed them by charging baton.

The Police arrested three Hizb-ut-Tahrir militants from the Naiorpul area of Sylhet city while they were distributing leaflets, reports Daily Star. They were identified as Farhan Habib of the city's Ambarkhana area, Imranur Rahman of Kuarpar and Ziaur Rahman Piyas of Faridabagh.

September 3

A court in Sherpur sentenced six JMB cadres to life imprisonment for their involvement in serial bomb blasts in Sherpur town on August 17, 2005. The convicts were identified as JMB's Dhaka ‘divisional commander’ Salahuddin alias Salehin, JMB's Sherpur ‘district commander’ Mujahidul Islam Sumon, and JMB cadres Rafiqul Islam, Abdul Mannan alias Paru Miah, Nazmul Islam alias Roman and Mostafizur Rahman alias Linkon. The court acquitted another accused, Humayun Kabir Shawkat, as charges brought against him were not proved.

September 4

Three cadres of the PBCP-Janajuddha were arrested during an encounter with the Police in the Pabna District. The arrestees, identified as Harun, Ruhul Amin and Rifat, had received injuries in the encounter. The rest of the militants, however, managed to escape from the incident site. Police recovered two bombs, three rounds of bullets and some sharp weapons from the incident site. Nibas Chandra Majhi, the Superintendent of Police in Pabna District, said the arrestees are listed criminals and also cadres of the PBCP-Janajuddha outfit.

The RAB troopers arrested a militant of the JMB, identified as Habibur Rahman Habi,from Krishnapur village under Kurigram municipality. He was sent to Police custody after being produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate in Kurigram. He was reportedly an associate of Matin Mehedi, second-in-command of the executed JMB chief Sheikh Abdur Rahman.

September 6

Police arrested three youths, including two schoolboys, at Hossainpur town in the Kishoreganj District for their involvement with a militant outfit. The arrestees were, identified as Omar Faruque, 20, a class 10 student of Barhatta CKP Pilot High School, Sheikh Parvez, 18, a student of class nine of the same school and Anik Ahmed, 20. Superintendent of Police of Netrakona Nazmul Alam said the arrestees might have connection with a militant outfit.

Motihar Police arrested a ICS leader from the dormitory of the Rajshahi University on charge of attacking a Police camp in theBinodpur market near Rajshahi University on May 23. The arrestee, identified as Ekramul, is the president of ICS Sayeed Amir Ali Hall unit. Tofazzel Hossain, Officer-In-Charge of the Motihar Police Station, said they arrested Ekramul in two cases filed against ICS cadres for attacking Police camp and Policemen on that day (May 23).

A leader of the Gono Bahini outfit, identified as Abdul Hannan alias Hanu, was shot dead by the Police during an encounter, when its cadres were holding a meeting at Anandapur in Mirpur area of Kushtia District. While Abdul’s accomplices managed to escape, a gun and five bullets were recovered from the encounter site. Hanu was reportedly accused in several cases including three for murder filed in Kushtia and Chuadanga Police stations.

September 7

A cadre of the Gono Bahini, identified as Asraful Islam alias Asha Mondol, was killed in an encounter with the Police at Durbachara area in Kushtia District.  Police also recovered a pipe gun and two bullets from the incident site. Asraful was accused in seven cases, including two for murder filed with the Kushtia Sub District and Islamic University Police Stations.

September 9

Police arrested a JMB militant, identified as Abdul Hakim (20), son of Zahirul Islam of Gobindapur village in the Gaibandha District, from Barabari Chowdhurypara in the Thakurgaon District. Officer in-Charge (OIC) of the Pirganj Police Station said that the Dhaka Metropolitan Police came to the District and raided one Moktarul Alam's house at Barabari Chowdhurypara at about 1:00am (BST) and arrested Abdul Hakim and Moktarul Islam. After interrogation, Police freed Moktarul and arrested Abdul Hakim.

A Dhaka court cancelled bails of two HuJI-B cadres, granted earlier by another court, in one of the two August 21, 2004 grenade attack cases on grounds that the charges brought against them were heinous and unpardonable. The HuJI-B cadres, identified as Munshi Mohibullah alias Mohibur Rahman, brother of HuJI-B Chief Mufti Abdul Hannan, and Arif Hasan Sumon, had obtained bail from a speedy trial tribunal.

September 10

A regional leader of the PBCP-Janajuddha, identified as Tukun, was killed at Khalishakundi village in the Daulatpur sub-district of Kushtia District. Police also recovered one LG, five bullets and a sword from the spot. Tukun was accused in six cases, including four for murder filed with Daulatpur and Mirpur Police Stations.

Security agencies have prepared a fresh list of top outlaw cadres, their kingpins and political mentors in the country's south-western region as they launched a drive on September 5 to arrest the criminals. Names of 280 armed operatives of different outlaw and criminal groups, 80 linchpins and as many as 150 political mentors have been included in the list. The fresh list includes the most wanted criminals from terrorist outfits and criminal gangs, their armed cadres active in the region and their godfathers including a good number of leaders holding posts in major political parties, sources said. Sources said the process of preparing a fresh list started after directives from the Government amidst escalating violence and killings in the outlaw-infested 10 Districts of the southwest. At least 269 people have died, mostly by different militant outfits, in the 10 south-western Districts since January 2009. Kushtia tops the list of killings with 70 murders followed by 49 in Jhenidah, 46 in Jessore, 30 in Khulna, 26 in Chuadanga, 12 in Meherpur, 11 in Satkhira, nine in Bagerhat, and eight each in Narail and Magura. The list prepared in 2004 had names of some 2,200 criminals of 12 militant outfits and crime rackets along with a number of their political patrons while the second list prepared in September-November of 2008 included names of 2,847 criminals and their mentors.

September 11

A GMF leader, identified as Ziko Parvez alias Killer Samrat (36), was killed in an encounter with the SFs at Baliapara village in Kushtia District. Police recovered one shutter gun and three bullets from the spot.

Police recovered four bombs from a house at Puriaghupi village under Sharsha Sub-District in Jessore District. 

September 13

Two left-wing extremists were shot dead in separate encounters with Police in the Kushtia District. The duo was identified as Gono Bahini leader Marfat Hossain, 40, and GMF leader Biplob, 33.

A Chuadanga court sentenced four left-wing extremists to life imprisonment for killing the Jatyia Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) Alamdanga unit president Majid in 1999. The convicts were identified as Nuruzzaman Laltu, founder of Banglar Communist Party (BCP), party cadres Atiar Rahman, Goljar Hossain and Nazrul Islam. Among them, Nazrul is still at large while the remaining three are in Chuadanga jail.

Police pressed charges against six militants, including two top leaders of Islam-o-Muslim (IoM), the new JMB offshoot, revealing that they were raising the secret outfit and accumulating small weaponry from India to kill opponents of the JMB, Daily Star reported. Police submitted the charge sheet to the third court of judicial magistrate against the accused Abdur Rahim alias Shahadat, 32, chief of IoM and former JMB's Rajshahi ‘regional commander’, and Selim alias Saifullah alias Harun Mistri, 26, chief ‘military commander’ and mastermind of the outfit, former JMB's military commander Abdul Momin and Abdur Rakib alias Sumon, 28, of Chapainwabganj, Jalal Uddin alias Sagor, 38, of Naogaon and Hafez Sajedur Rahman alias Hanif of Bagmara.

September 14

Samir Uddin (38), a ‘commander’ of the Gono Bahini outfit, was shot dead by the Police in Kushtia. While his accomplices managed to escape, one LG gun and two bullets were recovered from the from the incident site. Samir was reportedly an accused in seven cases, including three murders.

September 15

A regional leader of the Sarbahara Party, identified as Babul Sardar alias Babul (35), was killed in an encounter with the SFs in Batajhor area under Gouronodi Sub District of Barisal District.

September 16

An armed cadre of the BCP outfit, identified as Mashubar Halder (40), was killed in an encounter with the Police at Gutudia village under Dumuria Sub-District in  Khulna District. Two Policemen, Sobhan and Tajul Islam, were also reportedly injured during the incident. Police also recovered a point 22-bore pistol and three bullets from the spot.

September 20

A regional leader of the Janajuddha faction of the PBCP, identified as Sukkur Ali alias Boma Sukkur (30), was killed in an encounter with the Police at Nandanpur in Pabna District.  Police also recovered one shutter gun, two bullets from the spot.

September 22

Police arrested a GMF cadre, identified as Fazlur Rahman (38), with firearms in Kumarkhali.   Police also recovered a light gun and two bullets from his possession. Police said Fazlu was wanted in four murder and seven extortion cases.

September 24

Police arrested three persons at Shantipur in the Khagrachhari District for their suspected involvement with the militant outfit JMB. They were identified as Mohammad Delwar Hossain (40), Mohammad Zahid (25) of Comilla, and Mohammad Yunus Miah (18).

A Dhaka court placed HuJI-B chief Mufti Abdul Hannan on a three-day remand in a case for abducting a physician. Metropolitan Magistrate Ferdous Ara passed the order after the Police produced Hannan before the court with a 10-day remand prayer. Homeopathic physician Azizur Rahman was abducted on September 4, 2003, and has been missing since.

September 25-26

Three PBCP cadres were killed in encounter with the SFs in the capital Dhaka and Kushtia District. They were identified as Mohon Malitha, Aroz Ali and Edu Mondol.

September 26

RAB neutralised a training camp of the JMB in a forested remote hill area at Matiranga in Khagrachhari District. During the raid, the RAB personnel arrested Abdur Rahim alias Saifullah, ‘second-in-command’ of the JMB in Chittagong division, and recovered powdered explosives, 14 grenade casings, 20 detonators, 49 books on jihad, 27 batteries and around 1 kilogram barbed wire.

September 27

Police arrested four JMB cadres, identified as Delwar Hossain alias Sajib (32), and Yunus Ali alias Yunus at Shantipur, Delwar Hossain Dulal (23), in Gazipur and Monir alias Ripon in Comilla.

September 28

Eight bombs were recovered from behind an office in Abhoynagar Sub-District in Jessore District.

September 29

A regional leader of the PBCP-Red Flag, identified as Kamirul Islam alias Hamidul (45), was killed in an encounter with Police at Zuranpur village in Chuadanga District. Two Policemen were also reportedly injured during the encounter. Police recovered one pipe gun and one shutter gun and two bullets from the encounter site.

According to Police sources, 23 militants have been killed in encounter in 10 south-western Districts during the month-long special combing operation that ended on September 29. According to a source in Khulna Range DIG office, about 600 armed cadres of three underground organisations of PBCP-Janajuddha,  PBCP-Red Flag and New Biplobi Communist Party are engaged in extortion and other criminal activities in 10 Districts of Khulna division.

The parliamentary standing committee on Defence Ministry on September 29 said that Bangladesh and India had agreed to erect as many as 320 pillars on their border. It also said there is no more dispute with Myanmar, another neighbouring country, over the demarcation of land boundary as both the countries had agreed to set up a total of 314 pillars on the border.

September 30

A regional leader of the Sarbahara Party, identified as Habibur Rahman Mithu (32), was injured in an encounter with the RAB at Barisal District After the encounter, a locally-made gun and three bullets were recovered from the incident site.

October 1

A regional leader of the PBCP-Janajuddha, identified as Riazul Haq Masud alias Bidi Masud (32), was killed in an encounter with the Police at Chulkathi Palpara village. During the encounter four Police and RAB members were also injured. Police recovered three firearms, one sharp weapon, 29 rounds of bullet and five cartridges from the encounter site. Police said that Masud was wanted in 15 cases.

October 3

Two left-wing extremists were killed in separate encounters with the Police in the Khulna and Chuadanga Districts. Two Policemen were also injured in the encounter in Khulna District. The slain extremists were identified as Abu Sayeed Sarkar alias Ranga Sayeed, a cadre of the New Biplobi Communist Party, and Abdur Rashid alias Mollah Rashid, a regional leader of the PBCP-Janajuddha.

October 5

Five JMB militants were sentenced to 14 years Rigorous Imprisonment in a case under the Explosive Substances Act in Kishoreganj District.

October 6

A regional leader of the GMF, identified as Korban Ali (42), was killed in an encounter with the Police at Ghoshbila village in the Alamdanga sub-district in Chuadanga District. Subsequently, Police recovered a shutter gun and 10 bullets from the encounter site. Korban was accused in six cases, including four for murder, Police said.

Five persons were injured in an accidental bomb blast at Jhitkapota village under Moheshpur sub-district in Jhenidah District.

October 7

Two left-wing extremists were killed in two separate encounters with the SFs in the Kushtia and Pabna Districts. The deceased were identified as Sunnot Ali (36), a top cadre of the Gono Bahini, and Moktar Hossain (30), a ‘regional commander’ of the Sarbahara Party. Sunnot, accused in six cases, was reportedly a close associate of Obaidul alias Lal Bhai, a ‘military commander’ of the Gono Bahini. Moktar was reportedly accused in a number of cases, including three murders.

October 8

Three left-wing extremists were killed and four Policemen injured in separate encounters in the Kushtia, Khulna and Bagerhat Districts. The deceased were identified as Sakmol (40), a top cadre of the Gono Mukti Fouz (GMF), Delwar Hossain Delu alias Apu (30), a cadre of the PBCP-Red Flag, and Aslam Khan (40), a cadre of the PBCP-Janajuddha.

October 9

Two left-wing extremists were killed in separate encounters with the Police in the Kushtia and Khulna Districts. Two Policemen were also injured during the encounter in Khulna. The dead were identified as Amirul Islam Khan (40), a top cadre of the GMF, and Nirapada Bairagi (50), ‘operations commander’ of the New Biplobi Communist Party in Khulna. 

October 10

A regional leader of the BCP, identified as Maznu Mondol alias Abdullah (36), was shot dead in an encounter with Police at Barabaria village in the Kushtia District.

October 11

A court in Chittagong District sentenced four JMB militants to five years rigorous imprisonment each in an explosives case filed with the Cox's Bazaar Police Station. The convicts were identified as JMB Chittagong divisional chief Javed Iqbal alias Mohammad, explosive expert Zahidul Islam alias Boma Mizan, Ayub Ali alias Abu Jar and Naimuzzaman alias Shohag. With this verdict, the JMB Chittagong 'divisional chief' Mohammad has so far been awarded 229 years' imprisonment.

October 12

A regional leader of the GMF, identified as Azbahar Hossain (40), was killed in an encounter with the Police at Kumarkhali sub-District in the Kushtia District.

Police arrested a HuJI-B militant, identified as Abu Obaida alias Harun at Bhuiyan Bazar of Sonagazi sub-District in Feni District.

A court in Netrakona sentenced three JMB militants to 39 years rigorous imprisonment each for a bombing in the town on August 17, 2005. The convicts were identified as Kawser Ahmed alias Yunus, Kawser Alam Sumon and Amanullah.

October 14

Police arrested 21 left-wing extremists, on various charges, from different parts of all the nine sub- Districts of Bagerhat District during a two-week special drive from September 25 till October 8. Six personnel of the Police and RAB were injured during these operations. The arrested outlaws belonged to the Janajuddha and Red Flag factions of the PBCP.

The Government has reportedly directed the Security Forces to maintain vigilance to prevent any kind of subversive activities by the ULFA in the country. Referring to the recent crackdown on militants, the State Minister for Home, Shamsul Haque Tuku, told reporters that no militants would be able to escape the dragnet, according to ATN Bangla.

October 19

Three JMB militants were produced in a court in the Khagrachhari District and sent to jail after a scheduled hearing. The three were identified as Mohammad Abdur Rahim alias Zahid alias Saifullah (25), second in command of Chittagong division, DelwarHossain (40) and Mohammad Yunus Miah (20).

The Bangladesh Government is reported to have launched a operation for arresting some cadres of two Indian militant outfits - the ULFA and KLO, including its ‘chief’ D.K. Roy. In the light of information extracted from ‘military commander’ of the ULFA Bimol Roy during his interrogation at the Task Force Interrogation (TFI) cell Security Force personnel are trying to arrest the militants, sources close to the TFI cell said.

October 20

A regional leader of the PBCP-Janajuddha, identified as Jamal Uddin (38), was killed in an encounter with Police in Chatmohor sub district in Pabna District.

Police arrested Hanif and Shahjahan, cadres of the Red Flag faction of the PBCP from Chatmohor.

The Matiranga Police arrested a suspected JMB militant, identified as Mohammad Shamsu Mia, from Shantipur area in the Khagrachari District.

A court in Chittagong District sentenced five JMB militants to eight years' rigorous imprisonment each in the August 17, 2005 serial bomb blast case filed in Cox's Bazaar after hearing 24 witnesses.

The PBCP cadres distributed hundreds of leaflets and pasted posters at different places in the nine sub-districts of Sirajganj District, creating panic among the locals. "The Awami League has cheated people in the name of bringing change in the country. Before the election, they promised for a change and a digital Bangladesh. But now they have spread acts of criminalism, tender manipulation and looting people's property," read the leaflets.

October 21

Police arrested four militants of the PBCP-Janajuddha along with bombs in the Ataikula sub-district of Pabna District. Acting on a tip-off, Police personnel raided a place at Bulbaria village where some PBCP-Janajuddha faction cadres were holding a meeting at around 3:00pm (BST). Police arrested four cadres while the others managed to escape. Those arrested were identified as Rafique Kamar, Shahin, Imrul Islam, and Mohammed Nazrul Islam.

The RAB personnel recovered five bombs from a mango orchard at Chawkalampur village.

October 22

The Bangladesh Government banned the Hizb ut-Tahrir in the interest of public security. "The organisation has been banned as it has been carrying out anti-State, anti-Government, anti-people and anti-democratic activities for long in the country," Home Minister Sahara Khatun said. The Hizb ut-Tahrir is an international Islamist political party founded in Jerusalem in 1953.

October 24

SF personnel recovered an unexploded grenade from the Rajbari Stadium in the town in Rangamati District.

The RAB and Police arrested six youths at Amjhupi village in the Meherpur District for suspected involvement with militant outfits. The villagers alleged that they are operatives of the banned Hizb ut-Tahrir Bangladesh,

The Dhaka University’s syndicate has decided to send Mohiuddin Ahmed, Associate Professor of the Institute of Business Administration and chief coordinator of Hizb ut-Tahrir Bangladesh, on forced leave indefinitely for his involvement with the banned outfit.

October 25

The RAB arrested a cadre of the Red Flag faction of the PBCP, along with arms at Chandrapur village in the Bagmara sub-district in Rajshahi District.

Two suspected cadres of the PBCP-Janajuddha, identified as Aliullah and Hossain, were arrested from the remote village of Chatmohar sub-district under Pabna District.

October 26

Police raided the Dhaka central office and Sylhet divisional office of the Hizb ut-Tahrir Bangladesh and recovered its publications, and various other documents and properties. On the same day, the Bangladesh Bank issued an order to all banks across the country to freeze all accounts of the banned outfit.

RAB arrested six JMB militants, including two majlish-e-shura (the highest decision-making body) members and neutralised their hideouts in Narayanganj, Jamalpur, and Bagerhat Districts. The two top leaders, identified as Mehedi Hasan alias Abeer, who was in charge of JMB's Khulna division, and Zahirul Islam alias Zahid alias Badal, who was in charge of Dhaka division (north), were arrested from a house at Borpa of Rupganj area in Narayanganj District. Separately, following up on information provided by the two arrestees, the RAB launched operations at different places in Jamalpur District and arrested Hasan Sheikh, anehsar (full-time worker) member who was in charge of Jamalpur District, and gayre ehsar members Abdul Mazed and Akhtaruzzaman alias Shuruz Master, along with four Compact Discs and some books on jihad. Further, RAB personnel also arrested an ehsar member, who was also in charge of Bagerhat District, identified as Akbar alias Al Amin, from Mollahr Hat area in the same District.

Police arrested a cadre of the ICS from Katakhali municipality area in Rajshahi District. The arrestee, identified as Zafar Babu, is an accused in several arms related and women repression cases filed with the Motihar Police Station, Police said.

In a joint operation by the RAB and Police, two more JMB militants, identified as Akbar Ali Munshi and Daud Hossain Sheikh, were arrested at Gaola Union in the Bagerhat District.

The RAB arrested two PBCP cadres, identified as Ikramul Haq and Laltu, at Khadimpur sub-district in the Chuadanga District. The RAB also recovered a pistol and two bullets hidden at Khadimpur graveyard on the revelation of the duo. Ikramul, and Laltu were reportedly accomplices of the PBCP regional leader Arif Ahmed.

October 27

With the help of Bandarban sub-division Police, the Naikkhangchhari Police arrested four JMB militants from two hotels in the town. The arrestees were identified as M. Afsar Selim, Shahidul Islam, Abul Bashar and Nurul Afsar.

A leader of the KLO, a militant outfit active in the Indian States of Assam and West Bengal, was arrested from capital Dhaka. The Assistant Commissioner of Detective Branch, Sanwar Hossain, told Daily Star that they had arrested Tapan Petowari alias Palash Dey, a close aide to the KLO chairman Jibon Singh and also his nephew, from the city's Hazaribagh area on the charge of entering Bangladesh without a passport.

October 28

Police arrested six JMB militants during a raid at a JMB leader's house under Raninagar sub-district in the Naogaon District.

A Bogra District court sentenced five JMB militants to 20 years' rigorous imprisonment in a case filed under the Explosive Substances Act. The court also fined them BNR 20000 each and if they failed to pay this amount, they will have to serve two more years in jail.

Police arrested a PBCP cadre, identified as Afsar Ali, from Paikora village under Tarash sub-district in the Sirajganj District. He is reportedly wanted in the trader Abul Kalam Azad murder case.

October 29

A suspected militant of India’s separatist KLO, arrested in the Hazaribagh area of Dhaka on October 27, confessed before Police that KLO chief Jibon Singh was in Dhaka for "some days" but left several months back.

October 30

Police arrested a ‘regional commander’ of the PBCP, identified as Abdul Jalil, along with a locally-made pistol, a magazine, two bullets and four cartridges, at Bhagalpur village in the Goalanda sub-district of Rajbari District.

November 1

A RAB team arrested the second wife of the chief of the JMB and his sister-in-law from their rented house at Mayakanon area under Sabujbagh Police Station in capital Dhaka, though the JMB Chief managed to escape.

The ‘foreign secretary’ of the Indian militant group ULFA, Sashadhar Choudhury, and the outfit’s ‘finance secretary’ Chitraban Hazarika were arrested by intelligence officials from the Sector 3 area of Dhaka.

November 2

Police arrested Moulana Sheikh Abdus Salam, founder of the HuJI-B, for suspected links with the August 21, 2004 grenade attack on an AL rally.

Police arrested four GMF cadres, including the Kushtia town Mahila AL general secretary, who has also been a patron of the outfit, from Kushtia town in Kushtia District in connection with transporting firearms and ammunition, including an AK-47 rifle.

November 4

Police arrested Baishakhi Rahman Chumki, a suspected female GMF cadre, from Kushtia town.

The RAB personnel arrested two JMB militants, identified as Shimul and Sultan, along with two pistols at Jessore-Benapole road in the Sharsha sub-district of Jessore District.

The Police arrested three Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militants at Jameyatul Ulum Madrassa (seminary) at Lalkhan Bazaar area in the Chittagong District. The trio were reportedly linked to a plot to attack the US embassy in capital Dhaka. Police also reportedly detected several calls the three made to several Pakistani militant leaders.

November 5

Police arrested a suspected woman cadre of the  GMF, identified as Nahid Parvin Champa, from a house of Aruapara town in Kushtia District, in a second incident after Police launched a drive to arrest women armed cadres of militant outfits.  

The Chief Judicial Magistrate's Court in Khagrachhari District, granted four days fresh remand for three JMB militants, including the outfit's second-in-command, in Chittagong division Mohammad Abdur Rahim alias Zahid alias Saifullah.

November 7

A cadre of the PBCP-red Flag, identified as Suja Uddin alias Joy Babu, was arrested in Chuadanga District.

November 8

A central leader of the BCP, identified as Sarajit Ghosh, was killed in an encounter with the Police at Defolbaria village in the Jhenidah District. 

Kushtia District Police arrested two top cadres of the Gono Bahini, identified as Emdadul and Moinuddin, along with eight powerful bombs from Shantidanga village.

Speaking at the inaugural session of the three- regional workshop hosted jointly by Government of Bangladesh and the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate, Home Minister Sahara Khatun said, "Bangladesh will strictly ensure that its territory is not used by terrorist elements or organisations for activities against neighbouring countries."

Three Pakistani LeT militants who are still holed up in Bangladesh targeted the US Embassy and Indian High Commission in Dhaka for attacks before  Hajj (pilgrimage) as part of the outfit’s plan, sources in the Detective Branch of the Police said.

November 9

The chief of the Janajuddha faction of the PBCP-Janajuddha in Pabna District, identified as Mohammed Kamruzzaman Oli, was shot dead by Police during an encounter in the Faridpur DistrictHe was reportedly wanted for three murders and had been in hiding since the caretaker Government came to power in 2007.  

November 10

The Police declared the arrest of a suspected HuJI-B militant, identified as Abdul Majid, in connection with the August 2, 2004 grenade attack case.

November 12

A cadre of the Red Flag faction of the PBCP, identified as Abdul Halim, was hacked to death at village Korial in the Santhia sub-district of Pabna District.

Security Forces recovered four bombs from Chuadanga District and three from Benapole District.

November 13

Bangladesh Police arrested three suspected members of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba on suspicion they were plotting to attack US and Indian interests in the country.

November 14

A suspected cadre of the PBCP-Janajuddha, identified as Emdadul Khalifa, was arrested while extorting money from a businessman in the Main Road area of Mongla sub-district in the Bagerhat District.

November 15

A cadre of the PBCP-Janajuddha, identified as Ilias Hossain Mamun, was killed in an encounter with the Police Khalishakundi village under Daulatpur sub-district in Kushtia District.

Badsha alias Badsha Bhai, regional leader of the Red Flag faction of the PBCP, was beaten to death at Roypur under Gangni sub-district in Meherpur District.

Police arrested an ICS leader, identified as Hasmat Ali alias Liton, and seized some gunpowder like substance and chemicals during raids on three Rajshahi University halls.

November 16

Two cadres of the PBCP were killed during an encounter with the RAB personnel at Jalkar area in the Madaripur District. The duo was identified as Lutfor Rahman Khalasi and his younger brother Khairul Haque Khalasi.

The SFs arrested two PBCP-Janajuddha cadres in the Pabna District. The Rapid Action Battalion personnel arrested Akkas Ali from Darisardiar village along with a firearm while the Ataikula Police arrested Saheb Ali from Sadullahpur village.

November 17

A cadre of the Janajuddha faction PBCP, identified as Hasan alias Boma Hasan alias Batam, was killed in a encounter with the Police at Baniakanda village under Jhenidah District.

November 21

Police arrested 14 JMB militants from a house near the District truck terminal in Jhenidah District. From the house, owned by a primary school teacher Malek Joarder, Police also recovered nine mobile phone sets, copies of Quran and Bible, Islamic booklets and a copy of the first information report of the August 21 grenade attack on Awami League rally.

November 22

A JMB militant, identified as Golam Mostafa alias Manik, was arrested in front of Panchagarh Sadar Hospital in Thakurgaon District. Police said Golam Mostafa was involved in a serial blast in Nilphamari on August 17, 2005 and is wanted in a case filed with Nilphamari Sadar Police Station in this connection.An Afghan war veteran, identified as Abu Motaleb alias Matu alias Majnu, was arrested by the Police from the Motijheel area of capital Dhaka following information from arrested Pakistani nationals and LeT militants Mohammad Ashraf Ali Zahid and Syed AbdulKaiyum alias Sufian and Mohammad Monwar.

November 23

Indian authorities have arrested two top LeT militants, who infiltrated into Bangladesh to lead a 15-member squad in an attempt to attack the US and Indian missions in Dhaka, sources in the law-enforcement agencies said. The LeT militants, identified as T. Nasir and Sharfaraz from Indian State of Kerala, were arrested by the Indian intelligence officials soon after they crossed the Bibir Bazaar border in Comilla District on November 6, the sources added. They were reportedly members of the LeT suicide squad and were earlier hiding in the hilly areas of Chittagong District for around one and a half months and trying to collect explosives from the Rohingya rebels for the attack.

November 24

An underground regional leader of the BCP, identified as Tajmul alias Taju, was killed in encounter with the SFs at Habaspur village under Kumarkhali sub-district of Kushtia District. Subsequently, one foreign made revolver and four bullets were recovered from the encounter site. According to Police, Taju was wanted in seven cases, two for murder, filed with Kumarkhali Police Station.

The RAB in the same night arrested a cadre belonging to the Red flag faction of the PBCP, identified as Tofazzal Hossain Tofa, with a shutter gun and two bullets from Nurdaha village in Santhia sub-district in Pabna District. Tofa is reportedly an accused in several cases including murder, loot and robbery.

November 26

Police arrested 1519 persons on various charges in separate drives across the country in 24 hours as of 6:00am (BST). 14 firearms, 12 bombs and 120 bullets were also seized during the countrywide drive, said a Police headquarters release.

November 27

A regional leader of the Red Flag faction of the PBCP,   identified as Chand Ali alias 'Boma' Chand, was killed in an encounter with the Police at Madarbaria village of Santhia Sub-District under Pabna District. Police recovered recovered a shutter gun and eight bullets from the encounter site. 

November 29

The self-styled ‘supremo’ of NLFT, Biswamohan Debbarma, was arreted from an elite restaurant in Dhaka by personnel of DGFI. The DGFI has launched a massive crack down against North East militant outfit’s leaders and cadres following request from its Indian counterpart. The movement of two militant leaders – NLFT ‘Supremo’ Biswamohan Debbarma and Ranjit Debbarma, Commander-in-Chief of ATTF was under surveillance by the DGFI for the past few days. The DGFI sources said that both the militant leaders were moving together in different places of Dhaka for the past one week. However, DGFI personnel could manage to catch only Biswamohan.

December 1

PBCP cadres kidnapped three persons and held them for ransom and having failed to realise the money they killed them and buried the bodies in a graveyard in Taragunia graveyard under Daulatpur sub-district in Kushtia District. The dead bodies were recovered on December 1 following a confessional statement of Rokunuzzaman alias Manik, a top cadre of outlawed PBCP arrested on November 30. Police quoting the arrested cadre said that a gang led by Manik abducted Mehedi Hasan Sohag from Majampur area in Kushtia on November 1. They later demanded a ransom of BNR 3 million fromSohag's family. Police also added that the cadres killed the abductees in between November 15 and 20 as their families failed to pay the ransom and dumped the bodies atTaragunia graveyard.

December 2

The ‘chairman’ of the ULFA Arabinda Rajkhowa and ‘deputy commander-in-chief’ Raju Baruah were arrested in Dhaka. Both the ULFA leaders are likely to be handed over to India, highly placed official sources said. Official sources said that intelligence inputs indicated detention of the ‘deputy commander-in-chief’ of the ULFA Raju Baruah. "The Government of Bangladesh is yet to confirm the detention of Raju Baruah. The Government of Bangladesh only informed India that the ULFA Chairman and a few others were detained. But Indian intelligence agencies managed to obtain reports confirming the detention of Raju Baruah," sources added.

December 3

Two top leaders of the PBCP were killed in an encounter with SFs at Kedarganj area in Chuadanga District. The deceased were identified as ‘general secretary’ of PBCP Jamal alias Robi alias Nuruzzaman Sumon and Sunnat Ali, the ‘second-in-command’ of PBCP. Two personnel of RAB -- ASI Aminul Islam Amin and Constable Manik -- were also injured in the incident.

The founder of HuJI-B, identified as Sheikh Abdus Salam confessed his involvement in the August 21, 2004 grenade attack on an Awami League rally. In a statement given to a Dhaka court, Salam also disclosed the names of a number of top administrative officials and politicians as involved in the gruesome attack.

December 4

Two cadres of the PBCP, identified as Rokon and Sagar, were killed in an encounter in Jagati village of Kushtia District. Police also recovered one pistol, one LG and seven bullets from the encounter site. Police said that Rokon is accused in 12 cases including four for murder while Sagar is accused in 11 cases including three for murder.

The Bangladesh Government finally spoke about the rampant international media speculations regarding ULFA Chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa's arrest in Dhaka and his subsequent transfer to Indian custody. Terming the media reports baseless, Bangladesh Home Minister Sahara Khatun told reporters, "Since we did not arrest him, there is no question of pushing him back," adding, "Media reports about the ULFA chairman's arrest in Bangladesh is baseless and untrue."

Talking to Daily Star, BDR Director General Maj Gen Mainul Islam said that he was not aware of handing over of any ULFA leader to India by his Government.

December 6

Arrested Jammu and Kashmir based Islamist militant Abu Yusuf Butt, who is a leader of Jamaat-e-Islami and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) outfit, confessed before a Dhaka court that he was linked to the August 21,2004 grenade attack on an Awami League rally on Bangabandhu Avenue in the city. Yusuf also said that he also worked with militant outfits HuJI and Pakistan-based LeT.

A regional leader of the BCP was killed by the Police during an encounter at Munshiganj village under Alamdanga upazila (Sub-District) of Chuadanga District. He was identified as Monwar Hossain alias Mono. Police recovered one shutter gun, two bombs, splinters and two bullets from the encounter site. Monwar was an accused in 11 cases, including five for murder and six for abduction.

December 8

A cadre of the Janajuddha faction of the PBCP, identified as Sheikh Murad, was killed in an encounter with the Police at Brahmandia village of Fakirhat Sub- District in Bagerhat District. Assistant Sub Inspector Abdul Aziz, Constable Waziar Rahman and Constable Fazlul Huq sustained bullet injuries during the encounter. Two shutter guns, 21 bullets and seven bullet caps were recovered from the incident site. Murad, who was on the run, was sentenced to death in connection with the murder of eminent shrimp exporter and Fakirhat sub-district Awami League leader S. M. Farhad Hossain. He was also accused in seven other cases including three for murders.

December 9

Personnel of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) recovered a light gun (LG) and arrest five persons from a workshop at Paduar bazaar under Sadar Dakkhin upazila (Sub-District) in Comilla District. Arms making materials were also recovered from the workshop. The arrestees were identified as workshop owner Abul Khayer, workers Safiullah, Bashir Uddin, Milon and Abdul Awal.

December 11

An activist of the Parbattya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samity (PCJSS) party, identified as Shanti Kumar Chakma, was killed in a gunfight between two factions of the PCJSS near Moner Manush area at Dighinala upazila (Sub-District) in Khagrachhari District. Dighinala Police sources said two factions were locked in the clash over establishing supremacy in the area.

December 12

Kushtia District Police recovered the dead body of an alleged cadre of the Gono Mukti Fouz (GMF) outfit, Sahin Sheikh (30), from Bhadalia in Sadar upazila (Sub-District). Police said that he was involved in drug peddling at the area.

December 14

Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested a cadre of the Gono Bahini outfit, identified as Ashraf Ali alias 'Koshai' Ashraf, from Peerpur village under Ataikula Police Station in Pabna District. While other militants managed to escape, a shutter gun was recovered from his possession.

December 15

Three JMB cadres, including its Chittagong divisional ‘commander’ Javed Iqbal, were sentenced to imprisonment in Chittagong in a case under Explosive Substances Act. Chittagong Divisional Speedy Trial Tribunal Judge Mohammed Shafiqul Karim awarded 20 years imprisonment to Javed Iqbal alias Mohammad and 15 years to Naimuzzaman alias Sohag and Rafiqul Islam each. Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested Javed Iqbal and Naimuzzaman at a house at South Kattoli under Pahartali Police Station on December 14, 2005 and seized explosives from their possession. RAB official Abdul Hannan filed a case with Pahartali Police Station on the same day under Explosive Substances Act. Later, Police pressed charges in the case against JMB ‘chief’ Abdur Rahman, Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai, JMB ‘operation wing chief’ Ataur Rahman Sunny, Zahidul Islam alias Boma Mizan, Javed Iqbal alias Mohammad, Naimuzzaman alias Zafar alias Sohag and Rafiqul Islam. Of them, Abdur Rahman, Bangla Bhai and Sunny were executed in March 2007 in Jhalakathi judges' murder case. After examining 25 witnesses, tribunal judge on December 15 pronounced the verdict. The court acquitted Boma Mizan as charge brought against him could not be proved.

Haimchar upazila (Sub-District) unit president of the ICS, identified as Iqbal Hossain, who was arrested from Chandpur on December 14 for his reported involvement with JMB cadres, was taken on a three-day remand. Police produced Iqbal in Chandpur Chief Judicial Magistrate's Court with a prayer for seven days' remand. Judge Mohammed Mozammel Haque granted a three-day remand for the ICS leader. Police said Iqbal was carrying out JMB activities staying in an orphanage adjacent to Faruq-e-Azam Dakhil Madrassa (seminary) at Algi Bazar in Haimchar upazila and recruiting members for the outfit at the madrassa.

December 17

At least 10 persons were injured when suspected cadres belonging to the Jonojuddho faction of the PBCP carried out an attack on a village at Belkuchi sub-district in the Sirajganj District.

December 18

The dead body of a regional leader of the PBCP-Red flag, identified as Saiful Islam Saban alias Sabai, was found on a railway track in Alamganga sub district of Chuadanga District.

December 20

Police in a special drive arrested ten 'top-level members' of PBCP from Boroitola and Paikora villages in Tarash sub district of Sirajganj District.

The Chief Judicial Magistrate's Court in Kushtia District placed six GMF cadres on a three-day fresh remand.

RAB claimed that militant outfit JMB now has no suicide squad. The RAB ADG Col Mizanur Rahman Khan also adds that JMB activities have almost come to a halt as its command system has been almost broken down and limited to only invitational programmes. He also said that JMB's capability to carry out any subversive activity has been diminished to a great extent. Replying to a question, Col Mizan, however, said that JMB is trying to reorganise again through invitational activities.

PBCP cadres threatening to kill five people if they stand against their 'movement', pasted posters and distributed leaflets at Katagari Bazaar in Tarash sub district of Sirajganj District.

December 22

Police arrested four cadres of ICS in connection with the December 20 violent clashes at Government Azizul Haque University College

December 23

Police recovered the bullet-hit body of the Janajuddha faction of the PBCP cadre from Mongla Port area in the Bagerhat District.

December 26

Rajshahi Police aided by Rajshahi University (RU) authorities seized more than 500 jihadi books, kept for distribution by World Assembly of Muslim Youths (WAMY), from an Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS) controlled room at Shaheed Shamsuzzoha Hall.

December 27

The Sudharam Police arrested eight Hizbut Touhid militants, including three women, from the third floor of a house in Uttar Fakirpur area in Noakhali District. Police also recovered a huge number of books on militancy, leaflets, letters, 30 CDs, BNR 100000, two cheque books, eight mobile phone sets and four identity cards from their possession.

December 29

RAB said that during 2009, 60 persons have been killed in 57 incidents in which RAB used firearms but the use was not proved unlawful in the investigation. RAB Director General Hassan Mahmood Khandkar said that the elite force arrested 16,436 criminals, including 78 militants, and recovered 27 grenades, 1,306 firearms, 8,163 bullets, 304 bombs, 323 cocktails and 20 kilograms of explosives in 2009. RAB also seized huge amount of narcotics, fake notes, illegal VOIP equipment, antic items and pirated CDs and arrested a good number of people in this connection.

December 31

Police with the help of Rajshahi University (RU) authorities arrested two ICS cadres and an outsider and sealed off two ICS-controlled rooms at Shaheed Shamsuzzoha Hall for their alleged involvement in the movement against the authorities.

An unspecified law enforcement agency arrested Kazi Azizul Haque, an organiser of HuJI-B leaders, from Sylhet.

Source:Compiled from news reports and are provisional.