Police have also learnt that leaders of the militant group, a new faction of banned outfit Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh that follows the ideology of Islamic State, have been recruiting fresh members amid crackdown that began after the July 1 Gulshan cafe attack.
Their recruitment process did not stop even though the law enforcers have killed over three dozens of New JMB members including its military and operations chief Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury and his close associates since the Holey Artisan Bakery attack that claimed the lives of at least 24 persons, mostly foreigners.
Identities of the 12 leaders including a woman were found interrogating several arrested members of the group and examining the laptop of Tamim Chowdhury recovered from his den in Narayanganj, police claim.
“Four of them left the country after the Gulshan attack and have now been staying in India,” a high official of the police’s Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit, requesting anonymity, confirmed to the Dhaka Tribune.
The four are identified as Sohel Mahfuz alias Hatkata Mahfuz, Ripon, Khalid and so-called “big brother” Junayed Hasan Khan.
The others who still remain somewhere in Bangladesh include Iqbal, Manik, Mamun, Azadul Kabiraz, Badal and female wing leader Jebunnahar Shila. Investigators say they are recruiting fresh members for the group.
Apart from these 12 leaders, the investigators are looking for three top-tier leaders – Gulshan attack coordinator Nurul Islam Marjan, IT wing in-charge Basharuzzaman alias Abul Bashar alias Chocolate and trainer Jahangir alias Rajib Gandhi.
Jebunnahar, wife of Maj (retd) Zahidul Islam alias Karim who committed suicide during the Azimpur raid last month, is believed to be leading the female wing of the New JMB and has now been trying to recruit new members.
However, the investigators have not been able to trace the chief of the New JMB, who is identified as Abu Ibrahim al-Hanif by the Islamic State group.
The matter of fresh recruitment came to light after the latest raid on a New JMB den at Patartek of Gazipur. Some of the seven militants killed during the raid were recruited after the Gulshan attack, police say.
Monirul Islam, chief of the CTTC unit, said that they had already taken different initiatives to stop New JMB’s recruitment, “but it cannot be done by the police alone. The relatives also need to be aware of the changing behaviour of their near ones.”
Another high official of the CTTC unit said that they had not been able to arrest the top leaders of New JMB since they do not use any technological devices. “So we have to work manually – interrogating arrestees and observing a certain area for a long.”
Sanowar Hossain, additional deputy commissioner of the CTTC unit, suspects that after the death of Tamim in Narayanganj and Faridul Islam alias Akash in Patartek raids, New JMB’s operations wing leadership would now go to Marjan, a former student of Chittagong University linked to Islami Chhatra Shibir.
Thursday, June 04, 2026
