With an aim to build a strong base in Bangladesh, IS-inspired militant outfit Neo JMB has recently formed a 20-member committee.

The committee members, all from the “military wing” of the outfit, have named the committee “Islamic State of Bengal Province”.

It also planned to train the members in Pakistan on making firearms and set up a factory in Bangladesh after collecting a firearm from Kashmir as sample, according to sources in Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit of Dhaka Metropolitan Police.

The Neo JMB’s improvised explosive device (IED) expert, Sabbir Hossain, 26, also the military wing commander of the outfit’s Mymensingh region unit, formed the committee.

CTTC officials claimed to have collected the information about Sabbir, also known as Bamchi Barak alias Major Bamchi alias Abu Hafs al Bengali, by tracking the Neo JMB’s strategy.

Rahmatullah Chowdhury, additional deputy commissioner of the CTTC unit, said they recently came to know about the activities of Sabbir.

“We have learnt that Sabbir is carrying out activities hiding in Bangladesh. We are now trying to trace him and his associates to bring them to book,” Rahmatullah, also the chief of the CTTC’s Bomb Disposal Unit, told The Daily Star.

Sources said Sabbir has split the newly formed committee into four sub-sections — “control wing”, “military wing”, “Shariah wing” and “financial wing”.

The Neo JMB, who hails from a village in Jamalpur, had joined the militant outfit in 2016 following an online invitation.

The incumbent Neo JMB ameer, Mahadi Hasan Jon, had declared Sabbir a leader in 2019, said investigators.

Jon is now operating the outfit from Turkey. He was recently planning to hand over the charge of Neo JMB’s Bangladesh operations to a new leader as it became difficult for him to run the organisation from abroad, according to a recent intelligence report of a law enforcement agency.

“We have learnt that Sabbir is an expert in making IED. He gained the expertise watching videos online. We suspect he has some IEDs in his possession,” said a high official of the CTTC unit, requesting anonymity.

“We have details about transactions of Tk 2 lakh through an online money transfer platform. The money might have been sent home from abroad by Jon,” the official told The Daily Star.

The official said they learnt after analysis of some online communication details that Sabbir already visited Jamalpur, Sherpur, Tangail and Kurigram to recruit members for Neo JMB.

Intelligence sources claimed Sabbir is also a relative of mainstream JMB Ameer Salahuddin Ahmed alias Salehin, believed to be hiding in India now. Sabbir recently came in close contact with the family members of mainstream JMB’s bomb expert Mizan alias Boma Mizan.

Mizan was arrested in India in 2018.

Sources said Sabbir made printed tutorial materials on how to make IEDs, drones, and bombs.

CTTC officials said they have information that Sabbir in a meeting with two Islamic scholars tried to convince them to work for the outfit.

The officials said Sabbir is now planning to make bulletproof vests, collect a modern firearm from Kashmir and make firearms to distribute those among the military wing members of Neo JMB.

The CTTC unit is now trying to know about militant leader’s educational background and family history to get more details about him.

Neo JMB, as called by law enforcers, is inspired by the ideology of Islamic State.

The mainstream JMB had carried out suicide bombing and synchronised blasts across the country over a decade ago.

The Neo JMB emerged in 2014 after IS burst onto the international scene. But it drew law enforcers’ attention only after committing a grisly bank heist in Ashulia in April 2015, leaving eight people dead, said police sources.

Investigators say the Neo JMB is responsible for the July 1, 2016 Gulshan café attack in which 20 hostages, including 17 foreigners, were killed.

by Mohammad Jamil Khan in The Daily Star, July 6, 2021
https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/neo-jmb-forms-islamic-state-bengal-province-2124737