Thaindian News

Dhaka, Aug 6 (IANS) A banned Bangladeshi Islamist outfit hired “a dozen operatives from India” to eliminate Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her rival Khaleda Zia in a failed bid to foil the parliament elections held last year, a newspaper said Thursday.
Details of a nexus between the Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and its operatives in West Bengal, India, were provided during interrogation of militant Zahidul Islam Sumon alias “Boma” Mizan, an investigator of the elite Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) told The Daily Star newspaper.

The official spoke to the newspaper on condition of anonymity. RAB officials arrested the militant May 14.

Bangladesh authorities had tightened security last November in the wake of a report by an Indian TV channel during the run-up to the elections that there could be an attempt on the life of Hasina.

There was no confirmation, but a bomb blast took place two hours after Zia addressed an election rally in eastern Bangladesh during that time.

Hasina and her allies swept the poll, defeating the Zia-led alliance of Islamist parties.

An investigator who interrogated Mizan on several occasions said the militant leader admitted that JMB “has a network in West Bengal in India which is weakening gradually”.

“The outlawed outfit had earlier formed a small but effective group in India. But most of its Indian members defected following continuous crackdown on JMB in Bangladesh which saw arrests of many top to field level leaders here,” the official was quoted as saying.

Six leaders of JMB top brass including its ex-chief Shaikh Abdur Rahman were executed following their conviction for murdering two judges.

The outfit, however, has re-grouped and has expanded its base and activities, media reports have said.

The investigator citing Mizan’s statement told The Daily Star: “Before the national elections, 10 Indian JMB members visited Bangladesh in two equally divided groups.”

The Indian JMB members were brought in to execute the plan of foiling the ninth national election that was eventually held peacefully Dec 29 last year.

The Indians left Bangladesh in the beginning of February as the plan did not work, Mizan claims.

Bangladesh authorities have in the recent weeks caught three Indians nationals who they say have been hiding here for 14 to 15 years and have organised Islamist outfits.