Members of Bangladesh Jihadi Group, a platform of banned militants organisations, not only planned bank robberies but also formed a research cell to take control of the electronic banking system of several banks.
Before being busted by law enforcers, they were developing a software to infiltrate the e-banking systems and change information about the account holders, and have the money transferred to their accounts or withdrawn using fake debit and credit cards.
Detectives made the findings after interrogating the nine members of the group arrested on Sunday and analysing the laptop recovered from their possession. Yesterday was the second day of their seven-day remand.
They also found a software in the laptop that allows users to withdraw up to Tk25,000 from a credit card.
“We have received some alarming information by analysing the laptop. We found a 48-page research book that contains information on how to take control or hack the e-banking system. They made a list of banks having e-banking system and were assessing those that have relatively weak security measures,” Sanowar Hossain, additional deputy commissioner of DB police, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
Although the militants had been able to prepare fake credit and debit cards, “we are yet to get any information about their success.”
These militants are experts on technology. “They encrypted all the information on the laptop for which we are facing difficulties to recover the data. We need the help of the latest techniques and technology mainly used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to decode it.”
The militants were also collecting information on the activities of local and international law enforcement agencies, he said.
From their Twitter account, followed by 152 people, the militants so far tweeted 605 times.
A senior official of DB police, requesting not to be named, said former or current employees working in the IT departments of some banks might be involved with the jihadi group.
ADC Sanowar said they were investigating the matter seriously to get details about the group’s activities.
After the first day’s interrogation, detectives said the militants were ready to rob a private bank branch in Saidpur to operate their activities, and then wanted to kill popular writer Prof Muhammed Zafar Iqbal, Gonojagoron Moncho Spokesperson Imran H Sarker, and other noted citizens of the country.
Leaders of the platform were recruiting technologically-sound youths, Sanowar said.
Members of Harkat-ul Jihad Al Islami Bangladesh (HujiB), Ansarullah Bangla Team, Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and Hizb ut-Tahrir are working under the platform.
“We are preparing a draft regarding security at the banks and militant activities, and will send it to Bangladesh Bank shortly,” he added.
Asked whether they got any information about the killing of secular writer Avijit Roy, he said: “We are yet to get concrete information in this regard. A three-member committee is interrogating the nine jihadists to glean information about the killing of Avijit and others.”
The militants told the detectives that they believed in taking action against the persons and organisations who worked against them and Islam. “For this reason, we think they may have link to the killings.”
Spiritual leader of the jihadi group Maulana Nurullah Kashemi in his speech had mentioned that Prof Zafar Iqbal and Imran H Sarker were enemies of Islam and it was the militants’ religious responsibility to kill the duo, one of the nine arrestees Kazi Iftekharul Khaled told the detectives.
