Today is the 15th anniversary of series bomb blasts across the country. On 17 August, 2005, banned militant outfit Jama'atual Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) almost simultaneously detonated 459 bombs in 63 out of 64 districts across the country. Munshiganj was the only district that was spared. The incident claimed two lives, and left 104 others injured.
Counterterrorism officials believe the JMB has no strength to carry out an organized attack, but it is still a threat.
Some of the outfit members who walked out of jail after serving their sentences in cases filed over a series bomb blast have gone into hiding and they are trying to recruit new members, they said. After the synchronized attacks, 160 cases were lodged across the country. Police have completed probes into the cases.
They submitted the final reports in 17 cases and charge sheets in 143 others. In the charge sheets, 1,157 JMB leaders and activists were named as accused, the law enforcers said.
"Though most of the JMB members lead a normal life after walking out of jail, some 20 to 30 old JMB operatives have gone into hiding and are trying to recruit members," said an official of Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit of Dhaka Metropolitan Police.
CTTC chief Monirul Islam recently said, "Most of those who have come out of jail after serving their jail terms are under our surveillance."
"We have no room for complacency as it may help flourish terrorism in our society. So, we have to remain alert so that extremists cannot gain strength again and carry out attacks," he further said.
JMB allegedly received financial assistance from individual donors and organizations. Funds were transferred from Kuwait, UAE, Bahrain, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Libya.
Reports have claimed JMB received funding from international NGOs like Kuwait based Society of the Revival of Islamic Heritage (RIHS) and Doulatul Kuwait, Saudi Arabia based Al Haramaine Islamic Institute and Rabita Al Alam Al Islami, Qatar Charitable Society and UAE-based Al Fuzaira and Khairul Ansar Al Khairia.
