Himu's Window

At least four of the mutineers of the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) are believed to have been active members of Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) before they joined the paramilitary force. They all hail from Bagmara of Rajshahi, the stronghold of the Islamist militant outfit JMB, where extremists led by JMB's former operation commander Bangla Bhai, later executed, launched their atrocities.  Anwar, one of the four was well-known cadre of Bangla Bhai. He was allegedly involved in the murder of Awami League (AL) leader Yasin in 2004 in Bagmara. A team of the 'operation rebel hunt' has recently raided houses of Anwar, Ismail, Kawsar and Aftab but in vain.  The four were present at Pilkhana during the mutiny before they fled and they are still on the lam, said officers engaged in the 'operation rebel hunt'.  “There might be many more like them and we are looking into it”, said one of the officers.  The officers said some 10 to 12 rebel soldiers took shelter at Ismail...

Tuesday, March 10, 2009 Investigators in Rajshahi are trying to detect whether there is any link between BDR rebels and the patrons of outlawed Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB). The investigators have information about recruitment of a number of JMB or other outfits' operatives as border guards since 2004 on political recommendations, say officials involved in the Operation Rebel Hunt. A number of politicians were arrested, went into hiding, or were affected in some ways since the 1/11 changeover following their alleged patronage of militancy. "We have asked the BDR Headquarters for a list of new recruits from Rajshahi and neighbouring districts. Identifying the recruits will take time as necessary documents are now scattered," says a senior officer. He adds they are likely to take help from the computerised database prepared during the voters' registration with photograph for properly identifying these men. The official informs that they will emphasise how m...

Rajshahi police have sought permission from the home ministry to file at least 10 sedition cases in connection with the mutiny of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) soldiers in the division. Police drafted the cases on Wednesday and sent letters to police headquarters in Dhaka seeking necessary permission from the home ministry, said Mokhlesur Rahman, deputy inspector general (DIG) of Rajshahi range police. “After getting permission, police will record the cases and investigate them”, he said, adding that permission has been sought for no more than 10 cases. “As per rules, the home ministry's permission is essential for lodging cases with sedition charges”, said the DIG. Expressing solidarity with the Pilkhana mutineers, the soldiers in different northern regions, including four battalions in Rajshahi, Naogaon and Chapainawabganj districts, fired hundreds of shots and put barricades on roads on February 25 and 26 in order to destabilise the country, police said. Jamiruddin, a 35-year old rick...

Smuggling through the Rajshahi border points have increased considerably due to laxness of border guards in the last few days, said people in the bordering villages. Indian drugs including heroin and phensidyl and clothes are entering the country through the borders in huge quantity, they said. "One has to cross the Padma River twice to go to the Indian border at Char Majardia. There are at least 10 boats at ferry points for carrying smuggled items," said a villager. While going to the village at daytime, this correspondent saw some 11 boats at the first ghat (ferry point) on the Padma and 14 boats at the next ghat but only one boat in each ghat was engaged in carrying villagers across the river. Villagers said smugglers use the other boats only during the night. Similar picture is available also at other Padma ghats toward the Indian borders including Sonaikandi, Khar Chaka, Bidirpur and Char Asariadaha. Five BDR men were seen on duty at Char Majardia BDR camp. Asked about t...