One group at home, another with IS

A portion of the missing youths of Bangladesh have migrated to IS occupied areas in Syria, whereas the rest have joined forces with home-grown terrorists. Law enforcers are currently inquiring into whether the ‘missing’ youths residing in Bangladesh are in contact with international terrorists and recruiting others.

After the attacks on Holey Artisan in Gulshan and Eid congregation in Sholakia, police have launched a search throughout the country to find the missing youths. Reports of 803 missing youths were turned in during the initial enquiry. After investigating the initial report, the police confirmed around 50- 60 university students are linked to militancy.

Police requested educational institutions to submit a list of students who are irregular in classes. University officials handed in information regarding missing students, six from Chittagong University and 30 from Rajshahi.

The Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) is also working on the case of missing youths. PBI police super Ahsan Habib, who deals with investigation and management, told Prothom Alo that although they began investigation for 240 missing youths, the number has now decreased to 30. “We are finding information by talking to friends and family of the missing youths,” he added.

Two consecutive terrorist attacks and the anti-militancy Kalyanpur drive were carried out in midst of the ongoing debate about the existence of IS in Bangladesh. Soon after the Holey Artisan attack, a video was uploaded from an unknown IS area where Tahmid Rahman Shafi, Arafat Hossain Tushar and Md Tawsif Hossain praised the terrorists of the 1 July attack. Friends and relatives provided information that they went to Syria via Turkey.

Police have also received information about Bangladeshis who left for Syria with their entire family. Some of them got married while many of them are working in offices, or as nurses and cooks.

Almost two years ago, four people of the same family went missing from Abeda Manzil of 115 Crescent Road; Panna Sharif, along with her two sons Rezwan Sharif, Mainuddin Sharif and his wife Tania Sharif. A source close to the family said near the end of 2014 Panna and her son Rezwan set out to Kuakata and never returned. Before disappearing, they sold all their furniture, saying they were going to replace this with new furniture.

On 24 August 2013, Rezwan Sharif and nine others were arrested by the detective branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police on suspicion of involvement in militant activities. Police said that Rezwan Sharif and Mainuddin Shahrif became followers of Jordan-born British citizen Sheikh Abu Isa Ali Arrifai Al Hashmi Al Koraisi, also the leader of Jamaat ul Muslimeen, a foreign radical group, when he came to visit Dhaka in 2002.
Afterwards, they joined Ansarullah Bangla Team. In 2008, these two brothers received militant training from Samir Khan, a close associate of Al - Qaeda leader Anwar - Al - Awlaki.
Family sources said Mainuddin and his wife did not return after Rezwan was arrested. Rezwan was released from jail in 2014. He also disappeared after three months.

Rezwan Sharif was a student of computer science at North South University. However, no one knows what Mainuddin Sharif use to do.

Kalabagan police officer in-charge Yasir Arafat Khan said no General Dairy (GD) was filed with the police regarding the family till Monday.

Niaz Morshed went missing since June last year. His brother-in-law Jabed Ahmed filed a General Dairy (GD) with Cantonment police. Police said Niaz use to maintain contact with his family through e-mail. He last contacted his family on 30 September last year.

One of his family members refused talking further about him as they have given all the details to the law enforcement agencies.

Bangladeshi expatriate in Japan Saifullah Ozaki is alleged to have helped two criminals flee the country. According to Japan Post, university teacher Saifullah Ozaki went to the IS area with his Japanese wife and children. Police is trying find put whether Saifullah helped the criminals escape from the country while staying there.

Chief of counter terrorism and transnational crime unit of police, Monirul Islam said, the police are not sure whether Ozaki helped anyone to escape or not.

Law enforcement agency members also said that a number of people listed as missing are involved with JMB and Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) in the country.

One of the officials quoted the militants in custody as saying that they leave their area as directed from the organisation to do ‘hizrat’. They remain cut off from their families. They ply rickshaws or run grocery shops or farm in different areas. Then they carry out the killings.

Chittagong’s International Islamic University student Sabbirul Haque alias Konik of the economics and banking department went missing on 21 February. Sabbirul’s father Azizul Haque filed a GD with Baklia police after nine militants were killed in Kalyanpur police raid on 26 July. One of the deceased in the incident was thought to be Sabbirul. Azizul, but the father later confirmed that this was not his son.

Detective Branch (DB) officials said Sabbirul was identified as a member of the military wing of ABT. Police have long been searching for him due to a number of cases filed over killing bloggers and people of different ideology.

Sabbirul’s relatives in Chittagong said he was radicalised and had sharp differences with his family over certain religious programmes.
Police on 19 July arrested Abdul Aziz, a fourth year student of the industrial and production engineering (IPE) department of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST).

The student who stood first on the merit list during his first two semesters in 2011-12 session, became irregular in the third year.
The house in Ambarkhana, where Aziz use to stay as a paying guest, was found locked.

A team member of the detective unit of police, investigating the activities of ABT said, this dawati wing member also has military training.
One of the university administration officials said, according to the law enforcing officials, the killers of the Hindu ashram attendant in Jhenaidah took training under Aziz.

Acting executive director of Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK) Nur Khan said police were giving information about the missing, but this did not show the entire picture. Other missing also might be involved with militancy. People in most cases do not file GD when family members are missing.
RAB published a revised list with 70 missing. The Rapid Action Battalion disclosed names of five missing people including third year honors student Sheikh Iftisam Ahmed Sami (22) of the English Department of Rajshahi University.

Others are, Shahidul Alam, a madrasa student of Bahaddarhat who went missing five years ago, Jibon, 27, of Aditmari upazila of Lalmonirhat, Hossain Ahmed, 32, of Shaktipara village of Kanaighat upazila in Sylhet, and Imdadul Haque, 30, of Bharaimari village of Ishwardi in Pabna.

Shehzad Rauf alias Orko, who was killed in the Kalyanpur raid, Jubaer Hossain, honors third year student of Titumir College, and Iqbal Hossain was excluded from the revised list.