A Bandarban court has overturned the bail order for 32 members of the banned militant group Jama’atul Ansar Fil Hindal Sharqia in four cases after discovering that the guarantor for all the accused was the same person in violation of the law.
The incident occurred on Tuesday in the court of District and Sessions Judge Mohammad Mosleh Uddin of Bandarban.
An assessment of the bail bonds shows that the guarantor of each accused is the same person, Md Iman Hossain, who is the son of Md Khalil from Sadar police quarters. Although each accused is from a different district outside Bandarban, there were no respectable persons as guarantors from their areas as required by the law. Because of this, the bail orders were cancelled.
Among the accused, 21 were arrested from Thanchi Upazila in Bandarban, five from Bandarban Sadar, four from Ruma, and two people from Naikhongchhari. They were accused of receiving training at Kuki-Chin National Front (KNF) hideouts and carrying out militant activities at various places. Among those arrested are a trainer and an important person in the finance wing, police said.
On August 10 last year, the government banned Jama’atul Ansar as the eighth outlawed group, considering its activities to be a threat to public safety and the law and order of Bangladesh.
The activities of Jama'atul Ansar came to light in October 2022, when security forces were investigating the disappearance of seven youths from Comilla. Later, a list of 55 trainees, mostly students from across the country, was discovered.
Since then, most of the leaders and trained members of Jama'atul Ansar and the KNF have been arrested during drives by the joint forces and the police's RAB and Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crimes (CTTC) in the hills.
