A high-power committee led by Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu was constituted yesterday to track down sources of militant financing and coordinate the activities of the government in this regard.
The committee, formed by the Cabinet Division, has been asked to accelerate investigation activities, enhance coordination between the agencies that are working to identify the sources and suggest the authorities concerned about necessary measures to stop militant financing.
It has also been asked to monitor and take necessary steps against the financiers, and if needed, inform the authorities concerned for action.
The committee will monitor how the Islamic or Shariah-based banks and insurance companies spend their profits and corporate social responsibility funds while financial reports of the NGOs, working mainly in the CHT region, will also come under the scanner.
Members of the new committee are state ministers for finance and home ministries; governor of Bangladesh Bank; senior secretary of the home ministry; secretaries of banks and finance division, and law and justice division; heads of police, BGB, Ansar, NSI, DGFI and Islamic Foundation; additional inspector general of police; general manager of FIU unit of Bangladesh Bank; and director of National Telecommunication Monitoring Cell.
The additional secretary (political wing) of the Home Ministry will be the member secretary.
The previous committee tasked to deal with the issue was formed in 2009. It was headed by the home state minister.
In the last meeting, held on August 14, State Minister for Home Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said the major portion of the money spent on militant financing in the country came from profits and CSR funds of banks and insurance companies operating under Shariah rules.
At a cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on February 24 asked ministers and officials concerned to take tough actions with a view to preventing the rise of militant groups and to stop terrorism financing from inside or outside the country.
She made the directives after three convicted militants of banned Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) had been snatched from police custody – giving an impression that the group was being reorganised.
The detectives later learnt that four businessmen in the capital had been financing regrouping of the JMB which had been banned on February 13, 2005. With the money, the JMB has bought land in Bandarban and Cox’s Bazar areas, and set up camps to train its new members.
These incidents suggest that the banned outfit is still active with the capability to carry out devastating attacks like they did on August 17,2005. On that day, the JMB came up with much-unprecedented scale of terror attacks including the simultaneous blasts of 459 time bombs in 63 districts.
