Plan to form new militant group named ‘Itehadul Ummah’, government alert

Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed has informed about obtaining the information of a plan to form a militant group named ‘Itehadul Ummah’ from the forensic analysis of the mobile phones of the persons arrested from the mosque of Tejgaon College and questioning. The intelligence agencies are examining whether the organisation has any connection with any foreign militant group.

The Home Minister told the media that there is an allegation against the arrested persons of planning to organise in extremist activities with the aim of establishing Khilafat. He also informed that the government has a ‘zero tolerance’ policy against such activities.

Recently police arrested 23 persons from a mosque of Tejgaon College of the capital on suspicion of involvement with a banned militant organisation. They were arrested while a so-called meeting was ongoing after the Jummah prayer on September 18 on the basis of secret information. Later the officials of the Anti Terrorism Unit (ATU) and Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) took them into custody for verification and questioning.

Investigation is ongoing regarding possible extremist activities and the contacts of the organisation on the basis of the information received in the questioning of the arrested persons. However, detailed information regarding the expansion of the activities of the new organisation or involvement with foreign groups has not been disclosed.

It has been mentioned in the report that the next day after the arrest in Tejgaon, incidents of setting fire to three buses in Mirpur and Madhya Badda of the capital and arson on a pickup in South Keraniganj took place. News of cocktail explosions at various places of the capital was also received. However, it could not be confirmed whether there is any connection of the arrested persons or the so-called new organisation with these incidents.

Amid concern over militancy and extremism, human rights activist Nur Khan Liton has said that extremism is not a new matter in Bangladesh; there has been concern over this for a long time. He commented that how effectively the activities of the extremist groups were under surveillance in the past about two years is an important question. According to him, signs of some groups trying to organise anew are being seen.

It has further been said in the report that at least 690 prisoners fled from various jails of the country during the mass uprising of July 2024. Among them there were also persons accused in militancy cases. According to the information of the jail authorities, several of the escaped prisoners have been arrested later; it has been informed that information about the location of three persons could not be obtained. However, confirmed information regarding whether there is any relation of the absconding prisoners with the new organisation has not been mentioned.

Besides, it has been claimed that a warrant officer of Bangladesh Air Force who went missing from an airbase of Chattogram was found at a place associated with the Pakistan-based banned militant organisation Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The report also mentions investigation regarding the possible presence of extremist networks inside the armed forces over this incident. However, it is necessary to verify the statements of the concerned authorities and the updated information of the investigation in this regard.

According to security analysts, the effective role of intelligence surveillance and law enforcement agencies is important in preventing extremist activities. However, it is urgent to establish the truth of the allegation against any person or group through investigation.