The members of the new militant organization Jama'atul Ansar Fil Hindal Sharqiya are again trying to associate with various old militant groups, including Ansar al-Islam.
Apart from Ansar al-Islam, they are also reportedly cooperating with other extremist organizations and are planning to carry out various attacks.
The members have left the hilly areas of Chittagong Hill Tracts due to the recent operations of law enforcement forces, including the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB).
This information was obtained from the four arrested individuals, including the head of the dawati branch of Jama'atul Ansar, Abdullah Maymun.
RAB investigation
RAB reports that due to the vigilance of the law enforcement agency, members of the organizations have resurfaced.
Some members from banned militant organizations Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami Bangladesh (Huji-B) formed the new Sharqiya group. The members of the organization gathered and organized themselves by establishing residential training facilities in the hilly areas of Chittagong.
RAB's investigation officers said that the process of recruiting Sharqiya members is still going on. These extremist organizations remain active both online and offline.
Whenever information is received, operations are conducted to bring the militants within the ambit of the law. The law enforcement agency is closely monitoring these organizations, they noted.
The officers also said that after receiving information about the activities of the militant organization Sharqiya, they started conducting operations in October last year.
So far, 75 members of the organization have been arrested. In the interrogation, the militants said those who have received training have left the mountains and are now scattered in different parts of the country.
The trained militants left the mountain on the orders of the ameer of the organization, they noted.
Investigators also reported that the members of militant organizations who have been brought under the law had received financial support from their families. They used that money to set up bases in the hilly areas to hide and train.
Most of the members of Jama'atul Ansar are now in hiding along with different groups.
Commander Khandaker Al Moin, director of RAB's law and media wing, told Bangla Tribune that Maymun was an active member of Ansar al-Islam until 2013.
“He was very friendly with the senior members of the organization. Maymun was serving as the Sylhet division Jama'atul Ansar Fil Hindal Sharqiya's chief. He got a grant of Tk15 lakh to run this program,” he added.
The RAB chief also said that in 2019, Abdullah Maymun was arrested and imprisoned in an anti-terrorism case in Bogra. He was released on bail at the end of 2020.
“Later the bail was revoked but Maymun went into hiding. Originally, Maymun made contact with the new group in order to bridge the gap between Ansar al-Islam and the new group. Ansar al-Islam donated Tk15 lakh to the new organization through Maymun,” the RAB official said.
Where is Sharqiya's ameer?
The law enforcement forces are yet to know the whereabouts of the Ameer of Jama'atul Ansar, Anisur Rahman Mahmud.
However, they suspect that he is hiding somewhere inside Bangladesh.
Officials noted the ameer is providing guidance to the militant members stationed in different parts of the country from hiding.
The recently arrested members also told RAB that Anisur was keeping track of the recruitment of militant members.
Maymun's association with major Zia
RAB claimed that sacked army major Syed Ziaul Haque alias Zia, the Ansar al-Islam military wing chief, was very close to Abdullah Maymun, the head of Sharqiya's Dawati branch.
They met at different times. They even met in the capital. Major Zia was also reportedly directly involved in providing Sharqiya with financial assistance.
Maymun met with Major Zia until the middle of last year. Due to going into hiding, he distanced himself from the members of militant organizations, RAB officials said.
A key leader of the outlawed militant group Ansar al-Islam, Zia came under the spotlight once again after the US government announced a sizeable reward for any information on him.
Last year, the US Department of State, through its Rewards for Justice program, announced a reward of up to $5 million (or Tk42.8 crore) for information on two absconding convicts – Ziaul Haque aka Major Zia and Akram Hossain alias Abir.
Since 2013, the al-Qaeda-inspired group has killed over a dozen secular activists across the country.
Zia's name first came up in 2010 over instigating a mutiny in the army through cashing in on the 2009 BDR Mutiny, and also the following year, along with over a dozen of army officers – linked to outlawed outfit Hizb ut-Tahrir – for attempting a failed coup in December 2011. Zia was from the engineer corps at Mirpur Cantonment and trained in special operations.
