The National Investigating Agency (NIA) has filed a charge sheet in the Special Court of Guwahati against 11 alleged terrorists associated with the banned terrorist organization Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB). In the charge sheet, a case has been registered against the accused under various sections of BNS, 2023 and UA(P) Act, 1967.
NIA has revealed in its investigation that all these accused had an active role in Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen’s branch ‘Imam Mahmooder Kafeela’ i.e. IMK. Through this, they were helping in holding secret meetings, running religiously motivated programs, spreading extremist literature, conspiring to use digital platforms for anti-India propaganda and destabilizing the North-Eastern states and carrying out terrorist activities in states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand.
Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen is said to be an organization formed with the aim of establishing Shariat-based Islamic rule in Bangladesh. It was established to end the democratic and secular system in Bangladesh. This organization is influenced by Salafi ideology. Its founders were Sheikh Abdur Rahman and Siddiqul Islam. Siddikul Islam was also called Bangla Bhai among the terrorist organization.
Headlines
- Declared a banned terrorist organization by the Bangladesh government in February 2005.
- Carried out serial bomb blasts in Bangladesh in August 2005
- Mentioned in the bomb blast in Burdwan district of Bengal in 2014
- Role in Bodh Gaya bomb blasts in 2018 also came to light
500 blasts carried out in 63 out of 64 districts of Bangladesh
After its establishment, Jamaat-ul Mujahideen has started promoting extremist ideology in Bangladesh. From 1998 to 2005, he targeted NGOs and civilians. The Bangladesh government banned this organization in its country in February 2005 on charges of violent and terrorist incidents. However, for the first time this organization came into the eyes of the world in the month of August of the same year.
On August 17, 2005, Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen carried out 500 blasts in about 63 out of 64 districts of Bangladesh. All these blasts were carried out within 30 minutes. He had carried out this incident with the help of a fundamentalist organization named ‘Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami’.
Entry in India in 2005, spread network like this
Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen had entered India in 2005 at the same time when it was carrying out terrorist incidents in Bangladesh. Its responsibility was given to its founding member Siddiqul Islam. This was revealed after 9 years during the investigation of the blast in a house in Khagragarh, Burdwan, in which two people had died.
Siddikul Islam was earlier the military commander of Jagrato Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB), a banned organization linked to al-Qaeda. Then, in the year 1998, he joined Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen. He also played a big role in spreading the JMB network in Bangladesh. He also set up camps to give training to people with fundamentalist ideology in using weapons and making explosives.
He played a big role in the serial blasts in Bangladesh in August 2005. The purpose of these bombings was to eliminate judges and lawyers and replace the judicial system with Sharia law. In the year 2006, Bangladeshi police was successful in arresting Siddikul Islam. He was tried and hanged in the year 2006. Ultimately in 2006, he was arrested from his hideout in Bangladesh, he was tried and he was hanged the next year.
According to the NIA investigation, Siddiqul Islam along with ‘Hatkata Naseerullah’ established the first organization (65th unit) of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen in Murshidabad, Bengal in the year 2005. ‘Haatkata Naseerullah’ was a dreaded terrorist and IED expert of this organization. After this it started spreading in districts like Nadia and Birbhum.
According to NIA investigation, Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen spread its network through West Bengal to Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh. In recent years, Uttar Pradesh ATS and other agencies have also given such information regarding modules related to JMB.
A section of JMB also influenced by ISIS
According to a report published by the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies and the Australian National Security Agency, Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen has links with organizations like Lashkar-e-Taiba, Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami, Al-Qaeda Students Islamic Movement of India. A section of it is also said to be influenced by the ideology of Islamic State (ISIS).
Actually, last year a faction of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen emerged in the name of Neo-JMB. It was accused of being influenced by the ideology of the so-called Islamic State (ISIS). This group is known for ‘lone-wolf’ attacks, attacks in small groups and suicide attacks. In 2016, many foreigners lost their lives in the attack on Holi Artisan Cafe in Dhaka, which was also carried out by this group.
JMB’s funding sources
Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen gets funding from various sources. Raises money through robbery, loot and smuggling. Apart from this, fundamentalist organizations also help him from time to time. He also raises a good amount of money through fake currency and hawala networks. He also gets money through some support networks located abroad.
Status of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen in India?
The Government of India has declared JMB and all its forms as illegal and terrorist organizations under UAPA on 23 May 2019. The government took this step after the name of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen surfaced in the bomb blasts in Burdwan in 2014 and Bodh Gaya in 2018. In recent years, NIA, ATS and STF have taken continuous action against its alleged modules, funding networks and sleeper cells and made continuous arrests.
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