Extremist activity: Same group linked to 11 incidents, planning sabotage

In the Sadhapur area of Savar, on the outskirts of Dhaka, local residents approached a blue plastic drum after spotting it left unattended in a mosque field. Inside the drum was a pressure cooker wrapped in adhesive tape. The locals retrieved the pressure cooker from the drum, placed it back on the field, and alerted the police.

Sub-Inspector (SI) Imran Hossain, in charge of Savar’s Bhabanipur police outpost, told Prothom Alo that upon receiving the report at around 8:00 am on Wednesday, police attended the scene and located the pressure cooker wrapped in black adhesive tape. A Bomb Disposal Unit dispatched from Dhaka neutralised the device. The powerful detonation caused widespread panic throughout the local area.

Citing multiple local residents, the police stated that three unidentified individuals had left the plastic drum in the mosque field overnight. Efforts to identify them are currently under way.

The night prior to the Sadhapur incident, the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) conducted a raid on a three-storey house in the Dakshin Shyampur area of Savar.

They recovered a substantial quantity of explosive materials, including 11 pipe bombs (IEDs). Earlier on Tuesday afternoon, a youth named Mohammad Arif was arrested in Hemayetpur, Savar. The raid on the house in Dakshin Shyampur was carried out based on information obtained from him.

Investigation officials have revealed that Neo-JMB members were involved not only in these two Savar incidents, but in at least eight other events following an explosion at the Al Qura Madrasah in Dakshin Keraniganj, Dhaka, on 26 December last year.

According to investigators, a mobile phone was recovered from the madrasah following the blast. Based on information retrieved from that phone, joint forces conducted a raid on 1 February at the residence of the personal driver of Hafiz Khalid Ibrahim—a top-tier Neo-JMB leader—in Bagharpara, Jashore. The forces seized 10 powerful grenades, three foreign pistols, 19 rounds of pistol ammunition, one machete, one knife, and one razor.

Furthermore, investigators note that the same extremist group was involved in a total of 11 incidents, indicating plans for major sabotage.

These incidents include: an attack on police at a check-post in the Kutubkhali area of Jatrabari in the capital on 21 February; a bomb attack on a temple in Cumilla on 7 March; the hacking to death of a member of a minority community in Feni on 12 March; a pipe bomb explosion during a search at Janapad Mor (intersection) in Jatrabari on 25 March; a bomb attack on officials of a state intelligence agency in Dakshinkhan, Uttara on 22 June; the recovery of a bomb concealed inside an umbrella beneath the Motijheel Metro Rail Station on 24 July; and the recovery of a pressure cooker bomb from a grocery shop in the Ashulia area on 30 July, alongside the Keraniganj madrasah explosion, the Jashore arms and grenade seizure, and the two latest incidents in Savar.

Officials from the CTTC and Anti-Terrorism Unit (ATU) involved in the investigation stated they had received intelligence regarding plans for large-scale sabotage. As part of that plan, the bomb concealed in an umbrella had been placed beneath the metro rail station on 24 July.

Citing the interrogation of the arrested Arif in Savar, a CTTC officer told Prothom Alo that the group had left a bag containing a pressure cooker bomb at a grocery shop in the Ashulia area of Savar as part of a major sabotage scheme.

Regarding these developments, CTTC Chief and Deputy Inspector General of Police Mohammad Shamsul Haq told Prothom Alo that every incident is being investigated. Police surveillance and intelligence operations remain ongoing, and the latest raid was part of those efforts.

A three-minute walk from the Dakshin Shyampur Government Primary School in Savar leads to the three-storey house of Abdul Jalil, who resides on the second floor with his family. At the rear of the building is a two-room flat with a verandah. One room was locked, while the other had been rented out to an individual on 2 August. According to the national identity card provided to the landlord, his name was Abbas Ali, hailing from Pabna.

Jobenur Jidni, the landlord’s daughter, told Prothom Alo yesterday (Wednesday) that Abbas Ali came to check the flat on 2 August after seeing a ‘To Let’ notice. He rented the space after submitting his national identity card, stating he would reside there with his family and identifying himself as a lorry driver. On 5 August, he installed a ceiling fan in the room. The family was unaware of who frequented the flat after that. On Tuesday, police arrived and entered the room accompanied by the landlord’s daughter.

CTTC and Savar police personnel surrounded the three-storey building and conducted a search of the room until midnight on Tuesday. Prior to this, Mohammad Arif was arrested in Hemayetpur.

According to police, at the time of his arrest, five bombs (fashioned inside GI pipes), three knife-like bombs, and various bomb-making equipment were found in a bag in his possession. Based on his statements, the CTTC and the DMP Bomb Disposal Team executed the raid on the three-storey house.

According to the seizure list, six bombs and a vast quantity of bomb-making materials—including chemical substances, gunpowder, explosive powder, electrical wire, bearing balls, nitric acid, and plastic containers—were recovered from the room.

Following the incident, police filed a case under the Anti-Terrorism Act at Savar police station as the plaintiff. The case names Mohammad Arif, 26, Najmul Hasan Mamun, 32, Md Abbas Ali, 30, Kamal Hossain Daktar, 45, Bappi, 30, Rakib, 30, and six to seven other unidentified individuals as accused parties.

The case statement alleges that the accused are members of Neo-JMB, an organisation banned by the government. They had assembled in the Savar area with explosive substances to execute acts of sabotage. With the exception of Arif, the other accused remain at large.

The case statement further said, supporting the ideology of the banned organisation, they are engaged in attempting to murder law enforcement personnel to endanger public safety, jeopardise sovereignty, and instill terror among the public.

A CTTC officer involved in the Hemayetpur operation told Prothom Alo that Abbas Ali, Arif, Najmul Hossain (alias Mamun), and several others used to frequent that flat. Efforts to arrest the remaining suspects are ongoing.

Regarding the two consecutive raids and bomb recoveries in Savar, no official statement had been released by the police as of Wednesday evening.

On Tuesday night, the Media and Public Relations Division of the DMP had informed journalists via text message that the CTTC Chief would hold a press conference at 12:30 pm on Wednesday regarding the arrest of suspects linked to the bomb recoveries in Motijheel and other locations.

However, 15 minutes prior to the scheduled time, media outlets were informed that the press conference had been postponed due to unavoidable circumstances.

According to CTTC sources, Arif, who was arrested in the Hemayetpur area of Savar, is a member of Neo-JMB. In 2023, a case was filed against him under the Anti-Terrorism Act at Tongi East police station in Gazipur. In connection with that case, police arrested him in Dhaka on 1 August 2024.

According to the source, following the fall of the Awami League government in the mass uprising on 5 August (2024), he was released from prison. His ancestral home is in the Katiadi upazila of Kishoreganj district. In the case records, his present address was listed as the Bhoran area of Tongi.

When Prothom Alo's Gazipur correspondent visited that address on Wednesday afternoon, he met Arif's maternal cousin, Jalal Uddin. He told Prothom Alo that Arif used to work as a graphics designer at Islam Graphics and Printers in Tongi. On 13 September 2023, police arrested Arif from the Kuril Biswa Road area of Dhaka. Jalal had no contact with him since then.

CTTC sources indicate that the names of Sheikh Al Amin and Oli Ullah Joni (arrested in connection with the explosion at the Dakshin Keraniganj madrasah), alongside Arif (arrested in Savar), and the absconding Mamun and Bappi, keep resurfacing in these recent events.

Mamun was arrested nine years ago in a terrorism case and was released on bail after 5 August. In 2017, an individual named Saiful Islam was killed in a bomb explosion at Hotel Olio in Panthapath, Dhaka. However, in January this year, a Dhaka court acquitted all accused, including Mamun, in the Hotel Olio bomb blast case.

According to Dhaka district police sources, 17 individuals have been arrested so far in connection with the Keraniganj blast. The first to be arrested was a youth named Md Uzair Hossain. Prior to that, Sheikh Al Amin and his wife Asiya Begum were apprehended. Asiya Begum ran the madrasah in Keraniganj and was injured in the explosion. Al Amin had abandoned her and the children at the hospital before fleeing, but was later captured.

Sheikh Al Amin had previously been arrested twice—in 2017 and 2020—in connection with cases involving extremist activity. He was most recently released on bail in 2023. His home is in Sarulia village under Mollahat upazila in Bagerhat.

His close associate, Oli Ullah Joni, was arrested in 2017 in connection with cases at Fatullah, Rupganj, and Narsingdi police stations in Narayanganj, and was released on bail in 2023.

Following the mass uprising, Joni and Al Amin filed a case with the International Crimes Tribunal alleging they had been subjected to 'enforced disappearance', and several police officers are currently facing trial in connection with that case.