In what sounds like a scene from a James Bond film, investigators say a foreign intelligence agency provided a local Islamist extremist outfit with a spy telephone to evade increased surveillance operations by local law enforcement agencies.
A high official of the Detective Branch (DB) of police, asking not to be named, yesterday confirmed the development to the Dhaka Tribune.
He added that the recent bombing of the Hussaini Dalan, an important Shia shrine, was carried out by banned militant outfit Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) according to the instructions of the unnamed foreign intelligence agency.
The DB source said a foreign agency was definitely involved in the attack and added that investigators were searching for the involvement of other groups.
The link between a foreign intelligence outfit and the JMB was discovered after the arrest of four JMB men last night and the analysis of their spy cell phone records.
The arrestees have been identified as Md Idrish Shaikh, Md Makbul Sharif, Md Salam and Md Mostofa Zaman.
“After conducting a drive in the Khilgaon and airport areas, DB arrested the four men last night and recovered a huge stash of jihadi literature, Indian, Pakistani and Bahraini currency, a spy mobile phone, two Pakistani and one Bangladeshi passport,” Monirul Islam, joint commissioner of DB police, said.
Addressing a briefing at the Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s media and community centre, Monirul said whenever the JMB operatives communicated with each other using the spy phone, a copy of their voice and image was automatically sent to foreign intelligence officials.
“Idrish Shaikh used the spy mobile and we have found evidence of a relationship between him and a female official of a foreign embassy in Bangladesh,” Monirul said.
Monirul declined to disclose the name of either the foreign intelligence agency or the foreign embassy implicated in the investigation.
Monirul, also the DB chief, said Idrish went to India with the aid of brokers in 1985 before travelling onward to Pakistan. He received Pakistani citizenship after marrying a Pakistani woman in 1990.
Idrish became involved in Pakistani politics and took part in national elections there in 2002 under the banner of the “Pak Muslim Alliance.” He lost the election.
Idrish returned to Bangladesh in 2007 and, after providing a false address in Bagerhat, procured a new Bangladeshi passport, Monirul said.
Idrish later began working with the JMB. An analysis of his passport shows that he entered Pakistan at least 48 times over the last two years, Monirul said.
JMB member Makbul Sharif also has connections to Pakistan. He went to Pakistan through brokers in 1985 and repeatedly visited the country as a cloth trader.
“He was a JMB operative working in the guise of a trader,” Monirul said, adding that Makbul used a fake passport to visit Pakistan.
During his visits, Makbul established good relations with a Rohingya man living in Pakistan, Abdul Kuddus.
Makbul helped Rohingya based in Bangladesh by providing fake passports and helping to send them to Pakistan, Canada and Australia.
The funds he collected for these activities went into the JMB’s coffers, Monirul said.
Of the two other arrestees, Salam lived in the Bihari camp in Dhaka and also visited Pakistan. Mostofa worked as an assistant traffic inspector for Pakistan International Airlines.
Monirul said they not only worked for the JMB but operated as currency traders, using their profits to fund militant activities.
Asked about the recent attacks on the Shia community, Monirul said the attacks were designed to create uncertainty in the country. He said a foreign power was behind the attack.
Police have filed two cases with Airport police and another with Khilgaon police station against the four arrestees. The four were later placed in court where police sought a 10-day police remand. The court granted three days’ remand for each of the arrestees.