Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB)

Formation

The Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB), an Islamist vigilante outfit that espouses the ideals of the Taliban, attempts to ensure that the northwestern region of the country is ‘swept clean’ of the activities of left-wing extremist groups, primarily the Purba Banglar Communist Party (PBCP).

A certain section of the Bangladeshi media has indicated that the JMJB is an outgrowth of the Islamist militant outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB). Indeed there is considerable overlap between the leadership of the JMB and the JMJB. Other reports have indicated that the JMJB is a youth front of the outlawed militant group Harqat-ul-Jihad.

As per its senior leader Maulana Abdur Rahman, who is also the chief of JMB, the outfit was formed in 1998. However, when the JMJB first came to limelight on April 1, 2004, it was also known by other names like Mujahidin Alliance Council, Islami Jalsha and Muslim Raksha Mujahideen Oikya Parishad.

Objectives and Ideology

The JMJB follows the ideals of the Taliban militia and propagates a movement based on Jihad. Its chief has been quoted as stating that "our model includes many leaders and scholars of Islam. But we will take as much (ideology) from the Taliban as we need."

It has explicitly stated on more than one occasion that it does not subscribe to the prevailing political system in Bangladesh and that it would "build a society based on the Islamic model laid out in Holy Quran-Hadith."

The JMJB functions with an avowed objective of neutralizing the left-wing extremists, especially cadres of the PBCP. The professed long-term goal of the outfit is to usher in an ‘Islamic revolution’ in Bangladesh through Jihad.

Leadership

In the early hours of March 30, 2007, JMJB chief Siddiqul Islam alias Azizur Rahman alias Omar Ali Litu alias Bangla Bhai was hanged in the Kashimpur jail, where he was kept since his arrest on March 6, 2006 from the remote Rampur village under the Muktagachha sub-district of Mymensingh, 120 kilometres north of Dhaka after skirmishes with the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB). Hanged on the same day, were five other top militants of the Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) including its ‘supreme commander’ Maulana Abdur Rahman. All these militants including Siddiqul Islam had been pronounced guilty by the Supreme Court of involvement in the killing of two judges in Jhalakathi in November 2005. On March 4, 2007, President Iajuddin Ahmed had rejected their mercy petitions paving the way for their execution.

The highest decision-making body of the JMJB is the seven-member Majlish-e-Shura. Apart from Siddiqul Islam and JMB chief Abdur Rahman other members of the council included Ashikur Rahman, Hafez Mahmud, Tarek Moni and Khaled. Information regarding the Shura, after the March 30, 2007 executions, is not available.

‘Commander’ Bangla Bhai hailed from Bogra district and claimed that as a college student, he had joined the Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS), student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami. Bangla Bhai had also claimed that he quit the ICS in 1995 after the Jamaat accepted female leadership, which according to him was a sacrilege.

On the other hand, Maulana Abdur Rahman was reported to have worked at the Saudi embassy in Dhaka between 1985 and 1990. He studied at the Madina Islamic University in Saudi Arabia and has reportedly traveled to India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, among other countries. His most recent visit to Pakistan was reportedly in the year 2003.

Organisation

The JMJB reportedly has a three-tier organisation. The first tier of the outfit consists of activists called Ehsar who are recruited on a full-time basis and act at the behest of the higher echelons. The second tier, known as Gayeri Ehsar, has over 100,000 part-time activists. The third tier involves those who indirectly co-operate with the JMJB. According to JMJB leaders, the whole country has been divided into nine organisational divisions. Khulna, Barisal, Sylhet and Chittagong have an organisational divisional office each, while Dhaka has two divisional offices and Rajshahi three.

The outfit also had committees in each village and according to media reports villagers were being forced to join the committees. If anybody refused, he was branded as a ‘collaborator’ of the PBCP and taken to the JMJB ‘trial centre’.

Areas of Activity and Headquarters

The JMJB created strong bases mostly in northwest Bangladesh, in the districts of Rajshahi, Satkhira, Naogaon, Bagerhat, Jessore, Chittagong, Joypurhat, Natore, Rangpur, Bogra, Chittagong, and Khulna. It has allegedly spread its network to most Madrassas (seminaries) and other educational institutions in these districts.

The outfit also established at least 10 camps at Atrai and Raninagar in the Naogaon district, Bagmara in Rajshahi district, and Naldanga and Singra in Natore district. There have been reports of JMJB recruits being given training through recorded speeches of Osama bin Laden and the video footages of warfare training at the Al Qaeda's Farooque camp (now defunct) in Afghanistan.

Some JMJB leaders reportedly stated that the outfit is headquartered in Dhaka. However, media reports indicated all activities of the organisation revolving around Jamalpur.

Cadres

Bangla Bhai on occasions claimed that JMJB commands the strength of 300000 activists across the country. The outfit has about 10,000 full-time activists and spends up to Taka seven hundred thousand on them a month.

Weaponry

JMJB cadres during their vigilante operations in 2004 were seen with firearms. They also reportedly wielded swords, other sharp weapons, hammers and hockey sticks. Reports have indicated that the JMJB also had access to crude explosives.

Linkages

Not much is known about the outfit’s external linkages although Maulana Rahman claimed in an interview on May 13, 2004, that "My travels abroad are no secret. We don't have links with any foreign organisation." He also added that "We don't have direct links with the Taliban either. The Taliban wanted to establish the ideals of Allah. They did their part with courage."

Reports indicated that the JMJB is supported by certain members of the ruling Bangladesh National Party (BNP). The former Deputy Minister for Land, Ruhul Kuddus Talukder Dulu, was allegedly linked to the outfit. The first rally of the JMJB was reportedly addressed by Bagmara's BNP Joint Secretary, Besharat Ullah, indicating the degree of support that the vigilante outfit enjoys within the ruling coalition.

According to The New Nation, while the Cabinet Committee on law and order led by Minister Abdul Mannan Bhuiya ordered the arrest of Bangla Bhai for taking what they said law in his own hands, the three ministers belonging to Rajshahi - Aminul Haq, Fazlur Rahman patal and Ruhul Kuddus Dulu - opposed the police action saying the JMJB were on a ‘pro-people mission’ freeing the northern region from the left-wing extremists.

JMJB also enjoyed support among certain sections of the Police. For instance, Noor Mohammad, Divisional Inspector General of Police in Rajshahi, reportedly told Daily Star on May 5, 2004, that Bangla Bhai and his operatives were assisting the law enforcers in tracking down the left-wing outlaws. According to him, "We've asked police stations to support them whenever they go to catch outlaws." Reportedly, he justified such an action by indicating that "You know Sarbahara [left-wing extremists] men have been quite active in the region for many years and it is not possible for the undermanned and under-equipped police to hunt them down. Aziz [Bangla Bhai] is now helping us."

The JMJB chief Maulana Rahman is known to have visited Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Afghanistan. He has allegedly secured help from Saudi charities to build some mosques and seminaries, from where the group is known to operate.

Media reports also indicated that the JMJB is akin to JMB that fought with the police from a secret training camp at Khetlal in Jaipurhat district in August 2003. After the gun-battle, a number of its cadres fled, leaving behind many documents indicating the outfit's subversive plans. Although police could not then arrest Rahman, they detained his brother Ataur Rahman Ibne Abdullah and 18 other militants. A few days later, police released the militants and the higher authorities allegedly transferred several police officials involved in the Khetlal operation. Rahman was quoted in Daily Star on May 17, 2004, as saying, "our workers from Bogra, Jaipurhat, Rajshahi, Rangpur and other adjacent areas gathered in Khetlal to attend a meeting. But conspirators misled the police saying militants have gathered there. Police raided the place on wrong information. But they did not find any firearms."

Finance

Regarding the sources of income, Bangla Bhai was reported to have said, "People from all rungs of society are generously paying us funds, no-one is pressurised for money. If someone happily makes a donation, there's no problem."

Abdur Rahman also was reported to have set up a mosque and a seminary with financial assistance from the non-governmental organisation Rabeta-e-Islam and another organisation, Islami Oytijjho Sangstha.

Activities

The JMJB activists are reported to have carried out over 100 vigilante operations in different regions, including murders and attacks on people who they believe have committed crimes. Apart from these activities, the JMJB cadres have also been accused of extorting protection money from traders and forcing people to follow a certain variant of Islam.

Its cadres reportedly compelled local youths to keep beards, wear clothes up to the ankle, and the women to wear a veil. They were also involved in attempts to discontinue the playing of music in hotels and restaurants. There had been allegations that the outfit was enforcing harsh Islamic codes in the northwest region. However, Bangla Bhai denied these allegations claiming that it was a propaganda exercise.

The activities of the outfit appeared to have stopped completely by mid- 2005.

Incidents


2016

• December 19: Mohamad Shafiqul Islam DIG, Chittagong range, said that JMJB has become active again and is trying to reorganize itself.

2011

• June 29: The Prime Minister has said apart from banning five organisations for militant activities, the Government is closely watching some other suspected organisations. She stated, "that acts of militancy and terrorism will not be allowed on the soil of the country". The five banned militant organisations are Shahadat-e-al-Hikma Bangladesh, Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh [(JMJB), an Islamist vigilante outfit that espouses the ideals of the Taliban], Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI-B) and Hizb-ut-Tahrir Bangladesh.

2009

• March 16: The Cabinet sent back to the Home Ministry its report on the activities of militant outfits in the country asking it to give more information about such organisations and their networks. The report named a dozen such outfits with information on their organograms, sources of funding, links to political parties and their operations. Home Secretary Abdus Sobhan Sikder placed the report that named 12 militant outfits, including Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB). The Government has so far banned four Islamist militant outfits - the JMB, HuJI-B, JMJB and Shahadat-e al Hikma.

2008

• September 4: The Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB) in a letter to the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) headquarters and Rajshahi Metropolitan Police threatened to carry out bomb attacks on the homes and offices of all advisers to the caretaker Government. The outfits also threatened bomb attacks on offices of law enforcement agencies and the administration within this month. The letter faxed from Chapainawabganj was signed by M. Obaidur Rahman Giasi, military chief of the JMB. RAB authorities made the letter public on September 6. In the letter, both the outfits held RAB responsible for utions of the outfits'' top leadership and blamed army personnel and police for "torture of political leaders including former lawmakers".

2007

• May 28: Police personnel arrested a Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB) leader identified as Akbar Ali, at Borobihanali village in the Rajshahi District. Meanwhile, sources added that Akbar had a leading role in JMJB's march in Rajshahi city on May 23, 2004 and was named as an accused in the charge sheet filed in JMJB torture victim Fazlur Rahman's case.

• March 30: JMJB chief Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai was hanged in the Kashimpur jail.

• March 9: Police arrested Mahtab Khamaru, a close aide of JMJB chief Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai at a mosque at Talgharia in the Bagmara sub-district of Rajshahi district after Juma prayers. Khamaru had earlier been arrested on November 27, 2005, but was released following a ministerial order. Since then he was absconding.

• January 28: Bangla Bhai, who has been kept in Kashimpur Jail, submitted his mercy petition to the President. February 17 was primarily fixed for the execution of the JMB militants.

2006

• April 24: Fahima Chowdhury, wife of JMJB chief Bangla Bhai, is sent to jail by a court in Netrakona.

• April 23: Additional District and Sessions Judge's Court in Jhalakathi framed charges against JMJB chief Bangla Bhai for killing two judges in the district town in 2005.

• March 26: Siddiqur Rahman alias Bangla Bhai told the Task Force Intelligence that he was hopeful that the outfit’s cadres would implement JMB’s blueprint successfully across the country.

• March 11: Chan Mian, who had sheltered JMJB leader Bangla Bhai before his arrest on March 6, was detained following a tip-off from Bhaluk Chhatar village in the Muktagachha sub-district of Mymensingh.

• March 6: A court in Pirojpur awarded life imprisonment to JMB leader Faruq alias Baset Saifullah alias Amjad in absentia for his involvement in the August 17, 2005-serial bombings across the country.

• March 6: RAB personnel arrested a close aide of Bangla Bhai, Amanullah Rimon, from Srirampur village in the Sadar sub-district of Sylhet district.

• March 6: Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai, 'Commander' of the JMJB, is arrested following a gun-battle with security forces in the northern district of Mymensingh.

• February 5: A JMJB cadre, Omar Ali, is killed by cadres of the Red Flag faction of the Purba Banglar Communist Party (PBCP) at Baroihati bazaar in the Bagmara area of Rajshahi district.

• February 4: Two JMJB leaders, Saiful Islam and Ikram, were arrested from the Chinail Madrassa (seminary) in the Dhamrai sub-district of Dhaka district.

• February 1: The Government terminates the services of former Superintendent of Police of Rajshahi district, Masud Miah, after a probe committee found him to have maintained linkages with the JMJB ‘commander’ Bangla Bhai.

2005

• November 27: Kishoreganj District and Sessions court orders attachment of moveable properties of the Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh JMJB ‘Operations Commander’ Bangla Bhai as he failed to appear before it during the November 27 scheduled hearing of a case filed in connection with the August 17, 2005-blasts in the district.

• November 27: Rapid Action Battalion released an associate of JMJB leader Bangla Bhai, following alleged orders by a deputy minister. The JMJB cadre, Mahtab Ali Khamaru, involved in extortion activities was arrested from Talgharia market in the Bagmara sub-district of Rajshahi district.

• October 28: The Government announces a reward of $152,000 for information leading to the arrest of JMB chief Abdur Rahman and JMJB leader Bangla Bhai.

• September 6: A JMJB cadre, Abdul Jalil of Naogaon district, is shot dead by suspected PBCP-Red Flag faction cadres at Tilakpur in the Joypurhat district. Two of the PBCP cadres involved in the killing were subsequently arrested.

• August 3: According to Daily Star, police have dropped two top JMJB cadres, identified as 'Bheti camp in-charge' Shariatullah Simar and his deputy Mustafizur Rahman Khwaza, from the charge sheet filed in the Ziaul Haque Zia murder case. The charge sheet against 20 other persons was submitted to a court in Naogaon on August 2. Zia had been abducted from his residence by JMJB activists and was beaten to death at Raninagar in the Rajshahi district on November 14, 2004.
  
  

• July 28: According to Independent, the JMJB has commenced its activities in the Bagmara sub-district of Rajshahi district. It said that most of the 68 cadres, arrested between January 24 and January 30, 2005 from various places in Bagmara, have been released due to the non-submission of reports against them by the police.
  
  

• July 23: A JMJB cadre, who worked as a driver to the outfit's leader Bangla Bhai, was arrested along with two of his accomplices from Kaliganj Bazaar in the Rajshahi district.
  
  

• July 19: The police arrested 11 suspected Islamist terrorists, including two cadres of the banned JMJB and two Rajshahi University students, from a training camp in the Paba sub-district of Rajshahi district.
  
  

• July 17: The police arrests five JMJB cadres on charges of extortion from a businessman in the Rajshahi city.
  
  

• July 4: Two suspected JMJB cadres are arrested on charges of extortion in the Nilphamari district. According to official sources, the arrested cadres, identified as Rezaul and Azad, who had demanded Taka One lakh from the Local Government and Engineering Department, were arrested when they had reached the office to collect the amount.
  
  

• July 2: The Special Branch of police arrest a JMJB cadre, Moshiur Rahman Peter, accused of attacking a journalist on June 28.
  
  

• July 1: cadres of the outlawed Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB) have reportedly declared to have the Bagmara sub-district of Rajshahi district free of journalists within next five years. Local civilians told Daily Star that JMJB leaders, Mustafizur Rahman Mustaque, Majnur Rahman and Afzal Hossain, took out a march in Hamirkutsa on July 1 and made such statements.
  
  

• June 28: JMJB cadres attacked Shafiqul Islam, correspondent of the Bengali daily Janakantha, at Bhaniganj in the Bagmara area of Rajshahi district. The outfit accused Shafiqual of helping other journalists to report against the outfit.
  
  

• June 27: According to Daily Star, armed cadres of the outlawed group JMJB raided some houses in various villages of Bagmara in the Rajshahi district allegedly for extortion. The report further said that several JMJB leaders recently released from the Rajshahi Central Jail were seen marching on the roads of Shikdari, Hamirkutsa, Jhikra, Goalkandi and Jugipara areas.
  
  

• June 13: Mazzal Hossain, a former JMJB cadre, was killed by the outfit at Bagmara in the Rajshahi district.
  
  

• June 10: A JMJB cadre, Joynal, is arrested from Chaksadu village in the Bogra district. Official sources said that the arrested cadre was involved in the bombing incident of a drama programme at Shahjahanpur sub-district.
  
  

• June 1: Twenty-four followers of Bangla Bhai, 'Commander' of the JMJB, are released from the Rajshahi Central Jail, according to New Age.
  
  

• April 7: At least 42 JMJB cadres were released on bail from the Rajshahi central jail, according to Daily Star.
  
  

• March 1: According to Daily Star, the Rajshahi district Superintendent of Police, Masud Mia, misused his power to support the JMJB and helped its chief, Bangla Bhai, to escape, according to a cross section of public accounts, coupled with documentary proof and a special Government report. Following investigations, the report stated that Bangla Bhai escaped arrest on various occasions, even after the order of Prime Minister Khaleda Zia due to the 'unwillingness' of Masud Mia.
  
  

• February 24: Daily Star has reported that despite the Government ban on the JMJB, 50 of its cadres gathered at a meeting in the house of an unnamed Islamist fundamentalist leader in Bhabaniganj Bazaar
  
  

• February 23: The Ministry of Home Affairs announces a ban on the JMJB and Jamaatul Mujaheedin. "The two banned organisations have been engaged in killing, dacoity, bomb attacks, issuing threats and other subversive activities in different parts of the country, endangering the lives of the common people and destroying their property," said a press note issued by the ministry. The note also mentioned as a reason for the ban order the recent attacks on socio-cultural and non-governmental organisations, including the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee and Grameen Bank, in the northern part of the country.
  
  

• February 6: Police arrests two JMJB cadres, identified as Zafar Sardar and Masud Hasan, from their homes in the Ramrama village of Rajshahi district. The police had reportedly acted on information given by the JMJB chief of Bagmara, Abdus Sattar Master, who was arrested earlier.
  
  

• February 4: Operatives of the JMJB plan to continue bomb attacks on movie theatres all over the country, said police, adding that they suspect the outfit was involved in the Mymensingh movie theatre attack that killed 21 people on December 21, 2002. The bomb squad of JMJB will continue such bomb attacks as the group treats movies, theatres and jatra (a local theatre form) as 'anti-Islamic' activities, confessed JMJB operative, Shafiqullah, while in police custody.
  
  

• January 30: According to Daily Star, the JMJB cadres in Rajshahi district have been circulating leaflets for the last two days calling for Muslims to prepare for a Jehad (holy war). The leaflets, titled 'Qurbani and Jihad Fi Sabilillah' (Sacrifice and Jehad for Allah), said that organisations committed to Jehad, like in many other countries, had flourished in Bangladesh as well to fight the 'conspiracies of Kafirs' and retain 'the glory of Muslims'.
  
  

• January 28: Four persons, including two associates of JMJB chief Bangla Bhai, are arrested from the Hamir Kuchha area of Rajshahi district.
  
  

• Daily Star reports that a JMJB cadre claimed that the outfit was responsible for carrying out the bomb attack on a Jatra (a folk theatre form) at Laxikola village on January 14, in which two were killed and 70 wounded.
  
  

• January 22: Three JMJB cadres are killed by an angry mob following the killing of Mahbub Hossain Dewan, the Awami League publicity secretary, at ward no. 9 of Taherpur municipality and a subsequent attack on a local body chairman in the Bagmara area of Rajshahi district. Following the killings, at least 50 people, including eight police personnel, were injured in clashes between the police and JMJB cadres at Bhabaniganj in Bagmara on January 24. Police also arrested 64 JMJB cadres, but did not detain any of the leaders who led the attacks.

2004

• November 25: JMJB cadres assault the organiser of a local theatre group and set fire to the group's podium at Bagmara sub-district in Rajshahi district.

• November 14: Ziaul Haq Zia, a leader of the Bangladesh Chhatra League, is killed by cadres of the JMJB at Raninagar village in the Naogaon district.

• November 10: A media report indicated that JMJB cadres have imposed extortion amounts on the villagers of areas such as Naldanga in the Natore district, Raninagar in the Naogaon district and Bagmara in the Rajshahi district in the north-western region of the country.

• November 1: A JMJB cadre, identified as Sikder alias Raja, is arrested by the Rajpara police on charges of extortion in Rajshahi district.

• October 20: Seven associates of Bangla Bhai, 'operations commander' of the JMJB, are arrested along with arms and explosives from Jagadishpur Bariahat village in the Natore district.

• October 4: Seven persons, including a local Awami League leader, are wounded in an attack allegedly carried out by cadres of the JMJB at village Barabihanali in the Rajshahi district.
  

• August 28: Kushtia Jubo Dal Organising Secretary, Abul Kalam Azad, receives a letter in the name of Bangla Bhai that he and four top district Bangladesh Nationalist Party leaders would be "bombed to death" within a week.

• August 19: Three persons sustain injuries when JMJB cadres assault them at Gangopara in Bagmara.

• August 17: A media report quoting an unnamed BNP leader from Bhawaniganj says that Bangla Bhai could not be arrested because "interested quarters stood against" the order.

• August 11: 23 persons of Kaliganj sub-district in Satkhira are asked to pay Taka ten hundred thousand as toll or 'face death' through a postal mail with name of 'Bangla Bhai' affixed to the letter.

• July 22: Chief of Jamaat-e-Islami and Industries Minister, Motiur Rahman Nizami, claims that Islamist vigilante leader Bangla Bhai does not exist in reality and was a media creation.

• July 3: Five suspected activists of the JMJB are arrested from Shikderi Bazaar in the Bagmara area of Rajshahi district.

• July 2: Barguna police sends six of the 33 alleged JMJB cadres arrested a few days ago to Dhaka for further interrogation.
• July 1: The police frees three JMJB activists after ruling coalition leaders allegedly negotiate their release under instructions of a Deputy Minister.
• June 28: The US Ambassador to Bangladesh, Harry K Thomas, says that religious and political radicals, including JMJB leader Bangla Bhai, should be arrested immediately.

• June 26: JMJB extremists abduct two women and a child from Bagmara in the Rajshahi district.

• June 25: About 400 armed operatives of the Shanti Raksha Committee (Peace-Keeping Committee), another name for the JMJB, injure three people and ransack many houses in the Aamdighi area of Bogra district.

• June 22: Three US embassy officials visit Bagmara sub-district in Rajshahi to gather information about the activities of JMJB.

• June 5: Bangla Bhai claims that three ministers and a BNP lawmaker had assigned him to launch an anti-outlaw operation in the northwest region.

• June 1: The Naogaon police arrest three operatives of the JMJB and also detain two of its leaders.

• May 27: The Naogaon police seek help from the press to trace JMJB ‘commander’ Bangla Bhai.

• May 25: A media report says that despite a Government order, the Bangladesh police are not planning to arrest Bangla Bhai. They did not want to arrest him thinking that it could give a free run to the 'sarbaharas' (outlaws).

• May 22: A large number of JMJB activists stage a demonstration in the Rajshahi district and also issue death threats to some journalists. They urge the administration and media to support it in ‘eliminating outlaws’.

• May 21: A top JMJB leader discloses seven names which were on a ‘hit list’ prepared by the group. The list includes a former legislator and four union parishad (local body) chairmen.

• May 20: JMJB cadres led by 'commander' Bangla Bhai kill three alleged cadres of the PBCP near Bamongram village in the Bogra district.

• May 17: The government instructs police to arrest JMJB ‘commander’ Bangla Bhai.
  PBCP cadres kill two operatives of the JMJB, injure six others and also launch arson attacks on three houses in Naogaon.

• May 15: Bangla Bhai and his followers go into hiding in the wake of sharp criticism of his activities by opposition political parties who blamed the police for failure to tackle the situation in Bagmara.

• May 9: The Government, reportedly under pressure from donor agencies and local media, asks the police headquarters of Rajshahi range to submit a detailed report on Bangla Bhai while the Home Ministry engages an intelligence agency to monitor activities of the JMJB.
• May 7: Cadres of an unidentified left-wing extremist group kill two JMJB activists at an unspecified village in Naogaon district.

• May 6: JMJB cadres kill three PBCP cadres at Atrai in the Naogaon district.

• May 5: Noor Mohammad, Divisional Inspector General of Police in Rajshahi, says that Bangla Bhai and his operatives were assisting the law enforcers in tracking down left-wing outlaws.

• April 25: A media report says that more than 1,200 PBCP activists ‘surrender’ in the Raninagar and Atrai areas of Naogaon district along with an unspecified quantity of arms to the JMJB. JMJB had asked for the ‘surrender’ with a threat of setting ablaze houses of all suspected extremists.

• April 16: Some 49 left-wing operatives reportedly surrender at Pirgachha, Natore, in the face of a joint drive by local Mujahedin Committee (Islamist) and police. However, unconfirmed reports have termed the surrender as being a 'farce'.

• April 14: A media report says that the newly formed Muslim Raskha Mujahideen Oikkya Parishad has intensified its operation against the 'Sarbaharas' (outlaws) and drug dealers in the Bagmara and Tahirpur areas of Rajshahi district.

• April 10: Leaders and activists of the newly formed Muslim Raskha Mujahideen Oikkya Parishad (MRMOP) assault three suspected PBCP activists in Bagmara.

• April 9: A media report says that subversive activities have increased in the Bagmara sub-district due to the presence of outlawed PBCP and a newly formed fundamentalist outfit known as Muslim Raksha Mujahideen Oikya Parishad.

• April 1: About 50 criminals of a gang, identifying themselves as Mujahidin Alliance Council, an anti-PBCP underground outfit, kill an alleged member of the PBCP at Bagmara in Rajshahi district.