Bangladesh Timeline Year 2008

Date

Incidents

January 5

Police recovered four grenades, one sub-machine gun and 167 rounds of bullets at Balianpur of Monirampur sub-district in the Jessore district. Police sources said that the recovery followed the sighting of a grenade by children near a farm. No one was arrested in connection with the recovery.

January 8

Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) personnel recovered 12 kilograms of gunpowder and five kilograms of explosives from Digholshingha village at Chowgachha in the Jessore district. The explosives were hidden in sacks containing radish and were to be loaded in a Jessore bound truck. No one, however, could be arrested as the persons involved had managed to flee the scene before the arrival of the RAB personnel.

January 9

Police arrested a Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) militant, identified as Moazzem Hossain Mollah of Ghatbila village in Mollarhat sub-district in the Bagerhat district, while photocopying a leaflet at Sardarpara in Jamalpur town. Police sources said that the leaflet contained 'motivational speeches' of executed JMB leaders Shaikh Abdur Rahman, Ataur Rahman Sunny and Abdul Awal. Following Moazzem's preliminary confession, police raided his rented house at Adipaita village in Melandaha sub-district in the district on the same night and recovered some more leaflets.

January 10

The Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samity (PCJSS) urged the caretaker government to have dialogues with it under the government's initiative of dialogues with political parties. Rupayan Dewan, councillor of Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) Regional Council and central committee member of PCJSS, in a press release said the appointment of a set of five new advisors to the caretaker government is an important step for a credible election at the earliest.

January 11

Kamrul Ahsan alias Himu Khan, a left-wing extremist belonging to the Sarbahara Party, was arrested by the RAB personnel while holding a secret meeting of armed cadres of his outfit at Agorpur Bazaar in the Barisal district. A pipe gun and two bullets were recovered from the arrested extremist described as a leader of the Zia group and former chairman of the union parishad (local government body) of Agorpur. RAB sources said that Kamrul is an accused in five cases for murder and extortion.

January 18

Abdus Salam Pintu, former Deputy Minister in the Khaleda Zia Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Cabinet in Bangladesh admitted before a Dhaka court that the then Home Minister, Lutfozzaman Babar, and Ms. Zia’s son, Tariq Rahman, had given the nod for the August 21, 2004 grenade attack on the Awami League (AL) rally in capital Dhaka that led to the death of 23 AL activists. Pintu, who is currently under detention, said the plan was to kill AL leader Sheikh Hasina and senior leaders of the party. Pintu is the brother of Maulana Tajul Islam, a militant leader, who reportedly supplied the grenade to Harkat-ul Jihad-al Islami-Bangladesh (HuJI-B) leader Mufti Hannan to conduct the "operation." Both Babar and Rahman are now facing charges of corruption and misuse of power and are under detention.

January 20

A former zonal chief of the Purba Banglar Communist Party (PBCP), identified as Arif allias Badal, was killed during a shootout with RAB and police personnel at Ramjibanpur village in the Sujanagar sub-district of Pabna district. Arif’s accomplices, however, managed to escape. A single barrel gun, a shutter gun, a light machine gun and two bullets were recovered from the encounter site. RAB sources said that Arif, accused in several cases including nine for murder, had recently formed a new faction 'Maobadi Sangha Bangladesh'.

Two PBCP cadres, identified as Abbas Ali and Amirul Islam Khokon, were arrested during separate raids in the Meherpur sub-district and two arms and three bombs were recovered from them.

A judicial magistrate court in Chuadanga sent arrested journalist Rafiq Rahman, working for a Dhaka based vernacular daily Bhorer Kagoj, to jail. He had earlier been arrested on January 19 on the basis of a statement by Akram Hossain, an extremist belonging to the PBCP-Marxist–Leninist (PBCP-ML). He has been accused of printing posters of the outfit in his printing press.

RAB personnel recovered a time bomb from a pond of Montu Laskar in Pabahati village under Sadar sub-district in the Jhenidah district.

January 19

Sadar police in the Jhenidah district recovered five bombs in an abandoned state from a pond in Pabahati village.

January 21

Suspected extremists riding a motorbike killed a local BNP leader at Sailkupa in the Jhenidah district. Police sources said that the victim, Idris Ali, was the organising secretary of the BNP’s Sailkupa police station unit. However, no outfit has claimed responsibility for the killing.

A left-wing extremist leader belonging to the Red Flag faction of the Swadhin Purba Bangla Communist Party-Marxist-Leninist was killed during an encounter with the RAB personnel at Ratowal village in the Raninagar sub-district of Naogaon district. The slain extremist, identified as Ajit Pramanik of Bhatkoi village, was the second in command of the outfit and was accused in a number of cases, including five for murder with Atrai and Raninagar police stations. One RAB personnel was injured during the encounter. A foreign pistol, some ammunition and locally made arms were recovered from the encounter site.

A special judge court in Jamalpur sentenced three JMB militants to 34 years' rigorous imprisonment in connection with a grenade attack on police at Bhatara in the Sarishabari sub-district in 2007. The convicts identified as Habibur Rahman Yousuf of Satpoa village in Sarishabari sub-district, Sultan and Sohel of Charaildar village in Melandaha sub-district were also fined Taka 8000 each. Five other accused were acquitted. Yousuf was arrested first and following his confession, Sultan and Sohel were arrested at Charaildar village in the Melandaha sub-district on March 24, 2007 and 75 grenade bodies, 77 grenade caps and 27 packets of power gel were recovered from them.

January 22

RAB personnel recovered an AK-47 rifle, bullets and two brass statuettes during separate raids at Raozan and Boalkhali sub-district in the Chittagong district. No one was arrested in connection with the recovery.

January 23

A speedy trial tribunal in Rajshahi sentenced ten PBCP cadres to death for killing five people, including four policemen. The accused had killed four policemen and a leaseholder of Chowbaria Hat of Manda sub-district in the Naogaon district on April 16, 2006 while looting firearms and ammunition. The PBCP cadres sentenced to death include regional organising secretary Nurul Islam Shahin, cadres Tahurul Islam, Shafikul Islam, Abu Bakar Siddik, Nurunnabi Hasan, Shafikul Islam-2, Sanjay Kumar Saha, Pintu, Dilip and Tomal. A total 21 PBCP cadres were accused in the charge sheet of the case.

Security measures in the Khulna city were tightened following a threat issued by the Marxist-Leninist (ML) faction of the PBCP. The outfit mailed a hand-written letter to the Khulna Press Club threatening to carry out bomb and grenade attacks to take revenge for the killing of its operation commander Abdur Rashid alias Tapu who was killed in the Fakirhat sub-district of Bagerhat district in 2005.

January 24

Police arrested four members of the banned Harkat-ul-Jihad outfit at Amin hotel in Jessore. The arrestees were identified as Faruque Hossain, Idris Ali, Mosharef Hossain and Abdul Jalil of Chapainawabganj. The policemen raided Amin hotel on Chitra road at about 10:00pm after they were informed that a group of Islamist militants staying in the hotel had been circulating leaflets.

January 26

Second-in-command of the Janajudhdha faction of the PBCP, identified as Mohammad Ali, was killed by the RAB personnel during an encounter at Goaishbari village under Ataikula police station in the Pabna district. Firearms, bullets and bombs were recovered from the incident site. The RAB said that Ali was accused in seven cases for murder, extortion and other crimes, lodged with Ataikula, Santhia and Faridpur police stations.

Anwarul Islam Dablu, a bodyguard of former lawmaker Moshiur Rahman, was injured when unidentified militants hurled a bomb at him in a tea stall at Adarsha Para in the Jhenidah district.

January 27

Police arrested one militant of the PBCP-Janajuddha faction, identified as Ashraf Ali, from Gilatala in Khulna city. He is an accused in an Explosive Substances Act case filed in September 2005 with the Khan Jahan Ali police station.

The Speedy Trial court in Rajshahi sentenced seven JMB cadres to life imprisonment for carrying out bomb blasts in Chapainawabganj on August 17, 2005. The court further fined the convicts identified as Shahidullah Faruk Selim, Abul Kashem Tufan, Shakhawat Hossain Ziad, Abdullah Al Mamun Nasim, Hafez Ali Akbar Riaz, Shafiullah Shahid and Hafijur Rahman Dalim, Taka 10,000 each. Of the seven sentenced, two are still hiding.

One of the founding members of the New Biplobi Communist Party (NBCP), identified as 57 year old Akdil Hossain alias Buro was killed during a shootout between police and his PBCP cadres at Dakshin Mulgram village in the Kushtia district. Police raided the village where the NBCP cadres were holding a secret meeting. A shutter gun and eight rounds of bullet were recovered from the encounter site. Akdil's nephew Matiur Rahman Mati, however, alleged that a team of policemen in plain clothes had arrested Akdil while he was purchasing goods at a shop at Rayerbazar in capital Dhaka on January 27. Akdil reportedly was the acting chief of the outfit following the death of NBCP leader Monoranjan Goshai alias Mrinal who was allegedly killed in India in 2007.

The RAB personnel recovered seven bombs from Bhabanipur Binpara in the Shibganj sub-district of Chapainawabganj district. No one was arrested in connection with the recovery.

In a separate incident, RAB personnel recovered two powerful bombs at Muslimpara in the Chuadanga district.

Police unearthed an arms factory at Sonakhali Bazar in Morrelganj sub-district of Bagerhat district, . Six home-made guns, one revolver, 108 live cartridges and bullets and three sacks of arms making materials were recovered from the factory. Owner of the factory Enayet Khan and his partner Masum Khan were arrested. Officer-in-Charge Babul Akhter of Morrelganj police station said the arrested persons had been supplying arms to extremists and pirates in the Sundarban area and the south-western region of the country.

The Election Commission (EC) at a meeting with Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed asked the interim government to create an environment conducive to holding elections to city corporations and some municipalities in April, either by relaxing or by lifting the state of emergency in respective areas. The EC suggested that the emergency regime gradually allows 'indoor politics' to facilitate electoral reforms including registration of political parties with the commission. The process is supposed to be completed in June according to the announced electoral roadmap. Election Commissioner Brig Gen (retd) M Sakhawat Hussain said, "Now it depends on the government whether it will lift or relax the state of emergency to create the environment required for holding the polls."

A PBCP-ML cadre was killed in a shootout between security forces and PBCP cadres at Bijnagar village in the Kushtia district. The dead was identified as Akbar Ali of Naodapara in Mirpur sub-district. A country-made shutter gun and seven rounds of bullet were recovered from the encounter site . Police said Akbar had been accused in 12 cases on different charges including murder.

February 11

A PBCP-Janajuddha cadre, identified as Mohammed Farman Ali was killed by his rivals within the outfit at Sonakandi village in the Santhia sub-district of Pabna district. The slain extremist was accused in several cases including murder and robbery.

Security forces in two separate raids recovered a large number of firearms and ammunition from the Mohalchhari and Dighinala sub-districts of the Khagrachhari district. While a sub-machine gun (SMG), a .303 rifle, a Belgium-made single barrel breech loading gun, a locally-made single barrel breech loading gun, a grenade, SMG magazines and at least 2,000 bullets of different types of firearms were recovered from the remote Bangamura village in Mohalchhari, an army team recovered two foreign-made single barrel breech loading gun, a grenade, 100 bullets and some documents from Kamukkapara. However, no one was arrested in connection with the recovery.

The RAB personnel arrested Mufti Moinuddin, alias Abu Zandal, a key accomplice of the HuJI-B operations commander Mufti Abdul Hannan near a mosque in national capital Dhaka, on charges of carrying out a grenade attack at a rally of former Prime Minister and AL leader Sheikh Hasina Wajed. Based on his confession, RAB forces seized 41 live grenades from a remote village in southwestern district of Satkhira. RAB sources said same type of grenades were also used during the attack on Sheikh Hasina's rally.

February 16

RAB personnel arrested three people and seized 21 explosives from their possession at Bapdanga village in the Chapainawabganj district. The arrested persons were trying to sell the explosives. The area along the international border with India has been used for trading arms and bombs for long, RAB sources said.

Intelligence agencies indicated that a large number of grenades could be kept hidden in places across the country. Hassan Mahmood Khandaker, Director General of RAB, when asked whether grenades are in the hands of militants, said, "Our suspicion points to everywhere". Security force personnel have seized at least 130 hand grenades, mostly of Arges brand, and the rest 36-MHE brand grenades, from different parts of the country. The bulk of the seized grenades were in possession of the HuJI-B, which had 'carried out' the major grenade attacks in the country.

The Speedy Trial Tribunal in Dhaka sentenced three JMB militants to death on charges of killing eight people, including two leaders of the cultural group Udichi, by carrying out suicide bomb attacks at the Udichi and Shata Dal Shilpi Goshthi offices in Netrakona in December 2005. The convicts were identified as Salahuddin alias Saleheen, Asaduzzaman Chowdhury alias Panir and Yunus Ali. Yunus Ali was tried in absentia as he is yet to be arrested. The court acquitted Fahima alias Farzana as her involvement with the killings was not proved.

February 19

A Dhaka court remanded HuJI-B leader Mufti Mainuddin alias Abu Jandal alias Masum Billah in custody for seven days. The investigating officer told the court that Jandal had supplied the grenades that were used in the attack.

RAB personnel recovered 12 bombs from Dhumi Hayatpur village in Ghorapakhia union under Shibgonj sub-district in the Chapainawabgonj district. The explosives were wrapped in a polythene bag and hidden underground. Nobody was arrested in connection with the recovery.

Army Chief General Moeen U Ahmed said that Bangladesh should have its own brand of democracy as the Westminster model is not truly followed by any political party in power. Speaking at the launch of his book Nirbachita Sankolon (selected compilation) at Kurmitola Golf Club, General Moeen said "In our democracy, prime minister completely becomes one-man show. What we actually follow here is not the Westminster form." "We should have such model of democracy as will suit us and that's why I stated about our own brand of democracy", he added.

RAB personnel arrested a left-wing extremist belonging to an unspecified outfit and recovered firearms at Degree Char under Iswardi sub-district in the Pabna district. One rifle and eight round bullets were recovered from the extremist, identified as Khairul Alam alias Mollah of Krishnapur village in the Jhenidah district.

Police recovered two firearms in separate raids at Amlapara and Chourhas area in the Kushtia town. No one was arrested in connection with the recovery.

Daily Star reported that the HuJI-B leader Mufti Moinuddin alias Abu Zandal, now on a seven-day remand, during his interrogation has admitted his role in carrying out the August 21 grenade attack on an AL rally in 2004 with an intention of killing its chief Sheikh Hasina. Zandal, a close aide of detained HuJI-B operations commander Mufti Abdul Hannan, is being interrogated by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) at the Taskforce for Interrogation (TFI) cell in Dhaka. According to the report, the CID proposes to bring two more HuJI-B cadres, Moulana Abul Kalam Azad Bulbul and Tamim, who were arrested earlier in connection with the August 21 attack, face to face with Zandal to verify information so far gained from him.

Over 600 rounds of bullets were recovered inside a sack at Piplia area beside the Dhaka-Kalinganj road in Gazipur district.

A grenade was found at Chowdhuripara under Ramgarh sub-district in Khagrachhari district.

Police recovered two India-made revolvers with eight rounds of bullet from a canal at Guard Para village of the Lalmonirhat district.

A suspected JMB cadre was arrested in Tangail by the police in Barisal. The arrested militant, identified as Habibur Rahman Habib, is the son of Shajahan Miah of Habla village. Police claimed that Habib is the second-in-command of JMB's Tangail district unit and also the cousin of absconding JMB commander Younus Miah, who has been sentenced to death in the Netrokona bomb blast case recently. Habib is also an accused in two cases filed with the Paltan police station in Dhaka and Tangail police station in connection with August 17 bomb blasts in 2005.

Police detained a JMB militant, Abdur Rahman, while he was giving money to an accused JMB cadre at a Chittagong Court. The arrested is the son of Rafiqul Islam of Ghuchung Chhara in Rangamati.

The two detained HuJI-B militants who were involved in the August 21, 2004 grenade attacks on the AL rally in capital Dhaka were placed on three days' remand. They were identified as Maulana Abul Kalam Azad alias Bulbul and Hossain Ahmed alias Tamim. The Criminal Investigation Department reportedly plans to interrogate them along with the detained HuJI-B militant Mufti Moinuddin alias Abu Zandal for cross-checking the information provided earlier by Zandal.

Police recovered 11 bombs, three pipe-guns, two bullets and an unspecified quantity of bomb-making material from the district town of Jhenidah and the adjoining Madhugram village.

RAB Personnel arrested six 'bomb throwers' of the Marxist Leninist-Janajuddha faction of the PBCP from Jhenidah town and its outskirts . They were identified as Intaj, Kader alias Zakir, Sohag alias Sagar, Liton, Mitu and Motiar, RAB said, adding that they confessed to their involvement.

Two bombs and two shutter guns were recovered by the RAB personnel from Dudhli village under Kaliganj sub-district in the Satkhira district.

RAB personnel recovered one AK-47 rifle, a magazine and 16 rounds of bullet from Noapara under Raozan sub-district in the Chittagong district.

Home Secretary Abdul Karim said that the Islamist militant groups in the country are home grown as they finance themselves domestically and are patronised by particular political parties. Speaking at the opening session of a day-long conference on militancy in Dhaka, Karim said, "Weapons or types of explosives that they have used may have foreign origins or [come from] neighbouring countries, but their financing is arranged internally - not from external sources." He also said that the caretaker government is focusing on dismantling the network of small 'extremist' groups such as Allahr Dal, Hijbut Tahrir and Hijbut Touhid.

A report by the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI) titled, "Trend of Militancy in Bangladesh: August 2007-2008 said that since the August 17, 2005 country-wide explosions the RAB personnel have arrested 104 Islamist militants. The highest number of the arrested is from the Hizbut Touhid, comprising 46 percent. The BEI report also stated that in the past six months, militants have been preparing for grenade attacks, regrouping, strengthening their networks, training, engaging in propaganda warfare and abducting people.

Daily Star reported that the dormitories of Dhaka Polytechnic Institute in the national capital’s Tejgaon area have turned into a safe haven for fugitive criminals and militants. Criminals and militants are taking refuge within the three hostels of the Institute. Unidentified students and law enforcement agencies have confirmed that the criminals are being provided shelter by the Islami Chhatra Shibir. Several teachers with Jamaat background and with alleged links with the HuJI-B are also involved in the incident. Prof Shamshul Alam, principal of the Institute, admitted that some teachers of the institute are assisting the militants to hide in the dormitories, but said that the authorities are unable to take actions against those teachers since the issue is "out of their jurisdiction to deal with".

Police arrested a PBCP ‘regional commander’, identified as Abul Kalam Azad alias Kala, with two firearms, 11 rounds of bullet and one cartridge from Saurail village under Pangsha sub-district in the Rajbari district. He was reportedly wanted in five cases.

Army personnel recovered firearms and ammunition from Pumangpara under Dighinala sub-district of Khagrachhari district. The recovery included one Rifle, one, pipe gun, two magazines and 10 bullets.

During another search operation, troops from Guimara recovered a gun from Barapilak under Guimara police station in the same district.

Daily Star quoting intelligence agencies reports that the left-wing extremist outfits in the country's south-western region are regrouping with a seven-point programme to increase their strength and retaliate against the security forces. In late February 2008, the Marxist-Leninist faction of the PBCP organised a meeting of different outfits in Jhenidah and called for unity of all the groups to launch an "action programme". The programme reportedly includes bomb attack on law enforcers, educational institutions, passenger transport and important places in ten districts of the region, collection of toll from businessmen, distribution of leaflets, recruiting new cadres, removing class enemies and avenging the deaths of their colleagues in fake encounters. According to police sources, the left-wing extremists have killed ten persons and exploded nine bombs during the past one week in the area. They have also extorted a large amount of money from some businessmen in the south-western region.

Pratham Alo reports that the HuJI-B used to supply grenades to the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) to carry out attacks in India. An arrested HuJI-B leader Abu Zandal has told the police during his interrogation in Dhaka that the outfit had sent several consignments of grenades to the LeT operating in India until 2004. The last such consignment however, could not be delivered as the LeT representative who was supposed to receive it was killed in an encounter with Border Security Force (BSF) near Bangladesh's Kaliganj frontier. Zandal reportedly told the interrogators that the LeT leader Yazdani, who was killed in 2006 by the Delhi Police, used to maintain links with the detained HuJI-B ‘operations commander’ Mufti Abdul Hannan. Zandal also claimed that the supply of ‘Arges’ grenades were being received from a fugitive, Maulana Tazuddin, believed to be hiding in South Africa.

Police recovered eight bombs from a bathroom attached to the students’ dormitory of Mukta hostel of Rangpur Medical College.

Five teachers and five office clerks of the Rangpur Carmichael College were transferred to different colleges after intelligence agencies and the education department found them responsible for instigating Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS) activists to go on rampage on the college campus on February 6.

The United States State Department labelled HuJI-B as a foreign terrorist organisation (FTO). The outfit was previously put on the list of 'Other Terrorist Oragnisations' in 2003 by the US. A press release to this effect by the state department said, “The leader of HuJI-B signed the February 1998 fatwa sponsored by Usama bin Ladin [sic] that declared American civilians to be legitimate targets for attack. Since then, HuJI-B has been implicated in a number of terrorist attacks in Bangladesh and abroad.” Signed by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the Executive Order 13224, criminalises providing material support to HuJI-B by US citizens or people living under US jurisdictions, and freezes all HuJI-B property and interests in the US and in areas under US jurisdiction. The designation also enabled the US to deny visas to HuJI-B representatives, and requires US financial institutions to freeze assets held by HuJI-B.

The Bangladesh Home Ministry said there has been no operation of the HuJI-B in the country and the law enforcers were on alert to check against the resurgence of the outfit. Additional secretary of the home ministry Abdur Rashid said in a briefing at the ministry, “Intelligence agencies and lawmen are keeping watch so that the extremist organisation cannot resume its operation.”

RAB personnel unearthed a firearms-making factory in the national capital Dhaka’s Nayabazar area on March 6 and recovered three firearms and 12 bullets. A 24-year-old youth identified as Mohammad Imran Hossain was arrested in this connection. Firearms-making equipment and spare parts were recovered from his possession, a RAB statement said.

During a separate drive at 35 Shamchhabad Lane, the RAB personnel recovered two revolvers, one shutter gun, ammunition and other materials.

Two JMB cadres, Nashirul Haque Bintu and Hafizur Rahman Raju, were arrested at Bahalguri village under Bhurungamari sub-district in the Kurigram village. Both reportedly are close associates of JMB leader Matin Mehedi and had gone into hiding following the arrest of Matin in April 2007.

A JMB cadre, who was sentenced to death by a court, died while he was undergoing treatment at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH). Nasirullah was admitted to the DMCH by the Dhaka Central Jail authority on March 4 as he had been suffering from jaundice. A senior special judge's court of Jhenidah sentenced him to death on February 28, 2006 in an explosive case. The case was pending in the High Court.

RAB personnel recovered 14 bombs at Terorashia village of Islampur union in the Chapainawabganj district. The bombs reportedly were hidden in a bamboo cluster. No one has been arrested in connection with the recovery.

Daily Star reports that leaders of the HuJI-B had formed a new political party called Islami Gono Andolan in 2006 with an objective of carrying out political activities openly. A seven member committee led by Maulana Abdus Salam, founder of the Fatematuz Zohra women's madrassa (seminary) in Sherpur in the Bogra district, carries out the organisational activities of the party. Former deputy commander of HuJI-B and founder of Ommulara Al Islami madrassa of Shajahanpur in Bogra, Abdul Hannan Sabbir, and HuJI-B leader Abdul Aziz are members of the committee.

A PBCP-Red Flag faction regional leader was killed during an encounter with the Rapid Action Battalion personnel at Nandanpur village in the Ataikula sub-district of Pabna district. The killed extremist Md Abdus Samad alias Dhala Samad hailed from Kakilakhali village and was accused in several cases, including four for murder. Eight bombs, two shutter guns and three rounds of bullet were recovered from the encounter site.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) submitted supplementary charge sheets of two cases filed in connection with the grenade attack on the British High Commissioner at the shrine of Hajrat Shahjalal in Sylhet in 2004. The charge sheets accused the HuJI-B leader Abu Zandal alias Mufti Mainuddin and Masum Billah Khaza of delivering the grenades for the attack. The investigation officer told although charge sheets of the cases were submitted earlier, further investigation was carried out on the basis of the confessional statement of HuJI-B ‘operations commander’ Mufti Abdul Hannan, who indicated that the Abu Zandal had provided the grenades through the outfit’s operatives Sharif Shahedul Alam Bipul and Delwar Hossain Ripon.

Nine JMB militants were sentenced to life imprisonment for their involvement in the serial bomb blasts in Barguna on August 17, 2005. They were also fined Taka 5,000 each. They were identified as Asadul Arif, Rezaul Karim, Hafez Mohammad Mostafa Hasan, Hafez Al Amin, Shahidul Islam, Masum Billah, Abdul Haque Abbasi, Hafez Abdur Rahman and Shahid.

Police in Sirajganj district arrested a leader of the PBCP from Char Boyra village. The arrested extremist Abul Hossain is an accused in many cases including murder, killing police personnel, attacking the police camp at Randhunibari and looting of arms and ammunition.

Two persons were injured in a bomb attack on a brick field at Kumrabaria village in the Sadar sub-district of Jhenidah district. Truck driver Alam of Abhoy Nagar sub-district in Jessore and night guard of the brick field Amjad Hossain were injured when unidentified militants hurled two bombs, its owner Sharfaraj Khan Dinu said, adding, the militants also fired shots.

Seven persons were injured in a powerful explosion near a police patrol van at Noapara rail station under Abhoynagar sub-district in the Jessore district. Eyewitnesses told that an unidentified man hurled the bomb on the police van that was patrolling the area. Police sources quoting a Sub Inspector who was inside the police van during the bomb attack said the act was an isolated incident to create panic and it was not targeted at the police van.

Separately, two PBCP-Janajuddha cadres were arrested from an unspecified village in the Chuadanga district while collecting Taka 20,000 as extortion from a doctor.

RAB personnel arrested Mohammed Hares Sarder, a regional leader of the Rad Flag faction of the PBCP, from Joydebpur intersection in the Gazipur district. Following his interrogation, a Chinese revolver, an SBBL gun made in Belgium, two Burmese shutter gun and two locally made shutter guns were recovered from Dhanuaghata village in the Faridpur sub-district of Pabna district.

A BCP extremist who had been arrested in Shailkupa sub-district in Jhenidah district on March 17 was seriously injured while trying to flee from police custody . The extremist, identified as Munna of Kacher Kole village had been arrested with a gun and three bullets.

A Dhaka court sentenced three JMB militants, including the outfit's former second-in-command Siddiqul Islam Bangla Bhai's wife, Fahima alias Farzana, to different terms of punishment for the bombings at Udichi and Shatadal Shilpi Goshthi offices in Netrakona in December 2005. The other convicts are Salahuddin alias Saleheen and Asaduzzaman Chowdhury alias Panir. Salahuddin was sentenced to 31 years in jail while Panir and Fahima were sentenced to 10 and five years respectively. Panir and Fahima were also fined Taka 10,000 and 5,000 each, in default of which they will have to serve six and one months more in jail respectively. The court acquitted a fugitive JMB member Yunus Ali, as his involvement with the bomb blasts was not proved.

The RAB personnel seized a locally-made pipe-gun and one bullet of shutter gun that had been left abandoned at Juspur in the Tanore sub-district of Rajshahi district.

The Court of Second Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge in Chittagong sentenced four Islami Chhatra Shibir cadres to death and three other Shibir cadres to life imprisonment for killing eight people, including six Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) activists, in Bahodderhat on July 12, 2000. Each of the convicted cadres was also fined Taka 50,000 each. The three with life terms will have to stay in prison a year more if they fail to pay the fine. Thirteen ICS cadres charge sheeted in the case were acquitted by the court. The ICS cadres had opened fire on a bus carrying BCL cadres, student wing of the Awami League, at Bahodderhat in Chittagong killing six BCL cadres, the driver and an auto-rickshaw driver.

RAB personnel recovered 12 hand bombs from Gopalpur village in the Sujanagar sub-district of Pabna district . RAB authorities suspect that the bombs might have been kept at the village by the left-wing extremists.

A top militant of the Jasad Gono Bahini (JGB), Mahir Uddin, was killed in an encounter by the police at Zagannathpur village in the Alamdanga sub-district of Chuadanga. The police later recovered Mahir's dead body along with three shutter guns and nine bullets from the incident site. Mahir was a hardcore militant of the JGB and a close accomplice of its chief Azibor Rahman, police said. He was accused in some cases, including three for murder, filed with different police stations in Chuadanga and Kushtia districts.

Police recovered arms and ammunition, including an AK-47 assault rifle, one .22- bore rifle, a single-barrel gun and 66 rounds of ammunition from Bongram village in the Khoksha sub-district of Kushtia. Police said the operation was launched at noon on the information that some cadres of Razzaq Bahini are holding a secret meeting at a house at the village.

The Pabna district unit commander of PBCP-Red Flag, identified as Md. Shimul Pramanik, was killed during an encounter with RAB personnel and the outfit's cadres in Salaipur village in Goaishpur union. A point 22 revolver, a pipe gun, a shutter gun and seven bullets were recovered from the site of the encounter. Two RAB personnel were injured in the incident.

April 9

The United Kingdom (UK) Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, said that there was a terrorist linkage between Bangladesh and the United Kingdom. She told reporters at the residence of the British High Commissioner, "There is a potential linkage between terrorists in Britain and terrorists in Bangladesh and we have shared interest and endeavour to tackle it through both short- and long-term measures." She also said that there would be a joint working group in June 2008 on countering terrorism comprising officials of both countries.

A five day India-Bangladesh Border Coordination Conference began at the BSF headquarters in New Delhi where the Indian side handed over a revised list of 117 militant hideouts operating in Bangladesh. A list of 141 hideouts of members of Indian insurgent groups living in Bangladeshi territory was given to Bangladeshi side during the previous round of talks in October 2007.

April 12

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) arrested a person suspected of lobbing grenades at an AL rally in the capital Dhaka on August 21, 2004. CID sources said that Arif Hasan Sumon had also carried bombs used in the Ramna blasts on April 14, 2001. He was arrested from his house at Ali and Noor Real Estate Housing in the capital’s Mohammadpur area.

April 13

A PBCOP-Janajuddha ‘regional leader’ was killed during an encounter with the police in Jhenidah. Two policemen were injured in the incident. The slain extremist was identified as Rezaul Islam alias Razu of Chandipur village. He was arrested on April 12 from Lakhmikol village and had been taken to the encounter site for recovery of firearms. Two bombs and a firearm with two bullets were recovered subsequent to the encounter.

Police recovered four bombs and a large quantity of bomb-making materials and a leaflet at Bhadughar Bus Stop in the Brahmanbaria town. Two persons were arrested in connection with the recovery.

April 14

Suspected left-wing extremists belonging to an unidentified outfit killed a relative of a PBCP-Janajuddha leader at Gachha village in the Tala sub-district of Satkhira district. The victim, identified as shrimp farmer Mahadev Kumar Sarkar, was returning home on a motorcycle when the extremists lobbed explosives targeting him. Mahadev is related to the local PBCP-Janajuddha leader Shukdev Sarkar.

Security forces recovered nine locally made grenades, one 9-mm pistol, two locally-made guns and 15 bullets were recovered at Brahmanbaria.

Police recovered five Arges grenades, one sub-machine carbine (SMC), two of its magazines and 68 bullets, including 30 SMC bullets, at North Damuddya in the Shariatpur district.

April 16

The Indian Government confirmed that the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) leaders are carrying out business activities in Bangladesh. The Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Radhika V Selvi, informed the Rajya Sabha (Upper House of Indian Parliament) that inputs suggest that the ULFA has been using the territory of Bangladesh to procure and smuggle arms and explosives into India. The Minister was replying to a question on whether ULFA commanders have a vast network running seven hotels and six nursing homes, besides procuring weapons through the port city of Cox’s Bazaar in Bangladesh.

A Rajshahi divisional court awarded life terms to all 11 JMB militants in a sedition case filed for taking combat training to fight against the State in July 2005. Judge M. Sajedul Karim also fined the accused TK 20,000 each, in default of which they are to spend two more years in jail. Delivering the judgement, the court said that the militants were engaged in anti-State activities and that they had been receiving exclusive combat training on arms, ammunition and detonators with ulterior motives against the State was proved without any doubt.

April 18

Abu Abbas, a GMF regional leader was killed during an encounter with RAB personnel at Kakiladah graveyard of Mirpur sub district in the Kushtia district. The RAB personnel recovered a Pakistan-made rifle and five rounds of bullet from the incident site. Police said Abbas was accused in 16 cases on different charges, including murder.

The RAB personnel killed Sainul Haq alias Hira, a top cadre of Red Flag faction of the PBCP-ML at Bhatkui village in the Naogaon district. A shutter gun, a pipe gun, a rifle and three bullets were recovered from the incident site. Hira had been accused in several cases on different charges, including murder.

April 19

A close associate of the imprisoned operations commander of the HuJI-B, Mufti Abdul Hannan, was arrested by the RAB personnel from a forest area in the Fatikchhari sub-district of Chittagong. The militant, Maulana Shihabuddin, who runs a madrassa, is suspected of having been involved in several grenade attacks across the country.

RAB personnel recovered an AK-47 rifle, a magazine and 49 rounds of bullet from Noapara of Raozan sub-district in the Chittagong district.

April 20

Police produced 29 arrested JMB militants before a court in Mymensingh. The militants included Salahuddin Salehin and Asaduzzaman Ponir, two cadres who have been awarded death sentence in a case of bomb explosion.

April 23

Daily Star quoting intelligence agencies reported that leaders and cadres of left-wing extremist groups have been active in recent times in the remote areas of Tala, Assassuni, Paikgachha, Keshabpur, Manirampur and Dumuria sub-districts of different districts in south-western region of the country. These extremists had reportedly fled the region following a crackdown by the security forces.