Police want to ban New JMB

The government is the process of banning militant group New JMB, also termed Neo JMB, following a formal request by the Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit. Assistant Inspector General (confidential) of the Police Headquarters M Moniruzzaman has confirmed that the CTTC unit sent the prayer to Home Ministry to outlaw the group, a breakaway faction of notorious Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB). The ministry is now considering the proposal. So far, seven militant groups that eye establishing Shariah law in the country through violent means have been banned for anti-state activities. According to the police, New JMB was formed in 2013 and its members started targeted attacks in September 2015. The outfit since then has carried out dozens of attacks including the Gulshan restaurant massacre last year. Members of the same group conducted three suicide attacks on law enforcers in March. Middle east-based terrorist group Islamic State took credit for 29 of the attacks of New JMB, but refrained from issuing statements in some other incidents including the the Sholakia Eidgah attack. High officials of the police told the Dhaka Tribune that they wanted to ban the New JMB group under Section 18 of the Anti-Terrorism Act making it easier for the law enforcers to take strict legal action against its members. This is also to ensure that the group cannot actively seek new recruits or get together in public. Earlier, the Awami League-led government banned Ansar al-Islam on March 5, Ansarullah Bangla Team on May 25, 2015 and Hizb-ut Tahrir on October 22, 2009. Ansarullah changed its name to Ansar al-Islam after becoming affiliated with al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS). The previous BNP-Jamaat government outlawed the Bangladesh chapter of Harkat-ul Jihad al-Islami (Huji) on October 17, 2005, the JMB and its sister concern Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB) on February 23, 2005, and Shahadat-e-al Hikma on February 9, 2003. Ansar al-Islam claimed responsibilities, through Twitter, Telegram channels and other websites, for 13 attacks between January 2013 and April 25, 2016, in which 11 war crimes trial campaigners and secularists were killed while five others sustained critical injuries. Police have arrested a number of top leaders of the outfit, but its alleged operations chief Maj (sacked) Syed Ziaul Haque and spiritual leader Tamim al-Adnani have remained traceless.Most New JMB leaders got killedCanadian citizen Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury played the leading role in forming the New JMB group after he came to Bangladesh from Syria in late 2013. He first tried to form an umbrella group of militant outfits. Tamim later met old JMB leader Mawlana Abul Kashem, the principal of a Dinajpur madrasa, in July 2015. Kashem was arrested from Dhaka on March 2. In the last nine months, at least 37 members of the group including Tamim and Marjan were killed in raids. After the death of Tamim, the operations wing came under the lead of Faridul Islam Akash and later Nurul Islam Marjan, both killed in raids by the police’s CTTC unit. Another leader of the outfit Musa alias Mainuddin alias Mosiuddin is leading its operations. Police say he might have been killed in the Sylhet raid conducted last month. A dozen other top and second-tier leaders of the New JMB group are still absconding. They include Basharuzzaman alias Abul Bashar alias Chocolate, Abdus Samad alias Mamu alias Arif, Sohel Mahfuz alias Hatkata Mahfuz, Mamunur Rashid Ripon, Khalid, Junayed Hasan Khan, Iqbal, Manik, Mamun, Azadul Kabiraz and Badal. Some top members of the old JMB joined the new faction through Shohel Mahfuj and Hadisur Rahman Sagor. Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), however, identifies the group as JMB's Sarwar-Tamim faction. New JMB leader Sarwar Jahan alias Abdur Rahman alias Manik was killed in a drive by RAB in Ashulia. Later the force claimed that he had been the chief of the group, whom IS magazine Dabiq named as Abu Ibrahim al-Hanif. CTTC unit differs with the RAB version, and claims Sarwar was a third-tier leader of the outfit.