Ansar Al Islam’s New Spiritual Leader Sheikh Tamim Al Adnani Is Reorganising The Outfit
By Mohammad Jamil Khan
March 07,
2021
Xulhaz
Mannan, an LGBT rights activist, and his friend Khandoker Mahbub Rabby Tonoy,
were the victims of its last targeted killing in Dhaka in 2016.
The
militant outfit has not carried out any such operation since then but its other
activities continue in full swing, according to police officials.
Apart from
making recruitments through online platforms, including Facebook, it is
targeting the needy even non-Muslim and transgender people, who would not ever
come under suspicion of joining militancy.
It has
undertaken some projects in Dinajpur, Netrakona, Jamalpur, Madhupur and Tangail
targeting marginalised and ultra-poor communities, providing them with cash and
other supports.
Ansar
al-Islam has also got a new spiritual leader who goes by the name of Sheikh
Tamim Al Adnani. A former madrasa teacher, he is now responsible for
reorganising the outfit, said an official of Counter Terrorism and
Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit of the DMP.
Officials
say the organisational activities of Ansar al-Islam appear strongest in Dhaka
and Chattogram. It also has bases in Satkhira and Kushtia.
Said to be
the Bangladesh chapter of al-Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), the outfit
continues to get financial support from abroad and some businessmen in the
country, according to documents obtained by the CTTC officials.
A high
official told this newspaper that the outfit has investment in agro sector,
book publishing, e-commerce, clothe stores, and IT firms.
Police have
traced a number of financial transactions involving Ansar al-Islam and found
that it received around $900 to $1,100 from abroad through PayPal on several
occasions.
"We
have also got details of some local businessmen who are working for the outfit.
We are now analysing the details for further action," added the official.
It is the
Ansar al-Islam, previously called Ansarullah Bangla Team, whose members were
involved in brutal murders of bloggers, free thinkers and secular activists
that shook the nation from 2013 to 2016.
All the
victims were hacked to death in a similar manner, with four of them killed
within just seven months in 2015. It started with the killing of blogger Ahmed
Rajib Haider near his house in Mirpur on February 15, 2013.
On February
16 this year, the Anti-Terrorism Special Tribunal sentenced five members of the
organisation to death and another to life in jail for killing writer-blogger
Avijit Roy in 2015.
Before this
on February 10, the court sentenced eight members of the outfit to death for
killing publisher Faisal Arefin Dipan the same year.
Delivering
the verdict in the Avijit murder case, the court said the writer was killed to
gag freedom of expression so that no one in the country can write or express
themselves freely.
On July 28,
2019, police pressed charges against eight Ansar al-Islam members in the case
over the killing of Xulhaz Mannan, also a former USAID official, who was hacked
to death at his Kalabagan home along with his friend Mahbub Rabbi Tonoy in
April 2016.
The case is
now under trial at the Anti-Terrorism Special Tribunal of Dhaka, which recorded
statements of 15 prosecution witnesses in the case so far.
Ansar
al-Islam operates through several wings like recruitment, media, IT,
intelligence, and operation. It also has sleeper cells -- each containing not
more than five members.
To dodge
the law enforcers, the outfit has started using a portable operating system,
which can be carried in a pen drive and operated from any device without
keeping any digital evidence.
The top
leadership uses it to communicate with a sleeper cell chief, according to
several top officials who have been monitoring militant activities for more
than a decade.
These
details and documents about the outfit's activities were found after
intercepting correspondences over "Tutanota", an email service which
Ansarullah members earlier used, said the officials.
Ahamedul
Islam, additional deputy commissioner of CTTC unit, told The Daily Star,
"We have got some information about their latest communication and are now
analysing the details to trace their hideouts."
According
to available documents, the outfit has stopped carrying out any assassination
after the Holy Artisan café attack perpetrated by IS-inspired "Neo
JMB" in July 2016 as it believes everything drastically changed and went
against them after this.
After the
café siege, law enforces carried out many high-risk anti-militancy operations
in which around 79 militants were killed. Besides, more than 250 militants have
been arrested since then.
Another
reason for not launching attacks is that the government has a proper database
of all the tenants in Dhaka and the outfit members cannot stay safe for long in
a rented house.
Thirdly,
the outfit wants to gain popularity in the Qawmi madrasas and among different
communities and it is now focusing more on this, read the documents.
Monirul
Islam, chief of CTTC unit, told The Daily Star yesterday that the outfit is now
more concentrating on Dawah (invitation) on online platforms than operations.
"It
has been trying to inspire people to carry out lone-wolf attacks since 2019 but
they did not see any success," said Monirul, also the additional
commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police.
According
to the documents, copies of which The Daily Star obtained, those who believe in
the ideology of the outfit are called "Madu or supporters" and full
members are "Ikhwa".
Only the
sleeper cell chiefs are connected with each other and they can communicate up
to the section chief. The sleeper cell members remain ignorant about each
other's identity and they only receive instruction from their chief.
Similarly,
a "cluster" is made of three to four sections. A cluster leader is
officially called IDN chief -- IDN means Izaratul Dawah Wal Nusrah.
When
someone is targeted for killing, information about the person is collected
through the intelligence wing and finally the top leadership gives directives
to the IDN chief, who finally executes the plan through a sleeper cell, said
intelligence officials of police.
Police
intelligence officials said sacked army major Ziaul Haq, a much-talked-about
absconding militant sentenced to death in cases over the murders of both Avijit
and Dipan, still coordinates the training and operation activities of the
outfit.
Some other
police personnel, involved in tracking militant activities in the country
believe Zia is actually the chief of the outfit.
Asked why
Zia is still at larger despite repeated attempts by law enforcers to capture
him, counterterrorism officials said his last location was traced in Dhaka.
"On
March 25 [last year], Zia's movement was noticed in Dhaka but he somehow
managed to evade arrest," said a police official, requesting anonymity.
Saiful
Islam, deputy commissioner of CTTC unit, told The Daily Star yesterday that
they have no information of Zia leaving the country.
"We
are trying our best and conducting drives in different areas to nab him,"
said Saiful Islam.
Original: Headline: is far from over: Ansar
al-Islam has also got
Source: The Daily Star
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