Government to ban Bangladeshi terror group JMB

NEW DELHI: Four years after its emergence in India, the government is finally in the process of banning deadly Bangladeshi terror outfit, Jamaat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

The move will empower all state police forces and central agencies to restrict the funding, recruitment activities and terror operations of the outfit, which has been making fresh efforts lately to create its bases in cities across India.

The ministry of home affairs, sources say, is presently considering the proposal prepared by the National Investigation Agency for naming JMB as a proscribed organisation and a decision will be taken shortly.


Officials explained that banning JMB is important as the outfit has opened its full-fledged India chapter, Jamaat-ul Mujahideen India (JMI) recently, under the leadership of Salahuddin Salehin and his deputy Jahidul Islam with three main objectives— proselytization, training and armed combat with a view to establishing Islamic rule across the Indian subcontinent.

The outfit planted IEDs at Bodhgaya temple in Bihar in January while West Bengal police and NIA both have arrested several old JMB operatives in last few months.

The JMB leaders and operatives had gone into hiding after

2014 Burdwan accidental blast, when NIA launched a nationwide crackdown on the outfit recovering over 100 IEDs and arresting over 50 members. The JMB leaders, counter-intelligence officials say, were re-grouping after the crackdown on both sides – Bangladesh and India.

Investigations have revealed that JMB has not only been using Indian soil for hideouts in West Bengal, Assam, Jharkhand and other regions but it is “quietly” carrying out subversive activities like collection of funds, recruitment of Muslim youths into the fold of JMB, imparting training to them and motivating them to make handmade weapons like bows and arrows, etc and radicalising them to fight against members of other communities within India. The JMB members are using traditional methods like forming matrimonial alliances to settle in India. The outfit receives good support from Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and has funding channels in various countries. It also uses madrasas, mosques and social media for recruiting Muslim youth.

Latest intelligence inputs suggest that JMB cadres are moving to cities including Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, Jammu etc and assuming fake identity by acquiring PAN cards, Aadhaar etc and getting engaged in jobs like daily wage workers. Inputs also suggest that there could be over 60 modules of JMB consisting of 10 to 12 members each in various parts of India.

NIA has already announced a reward of Rs 5 lakh on the arrest of Salahuddin, who is said to be hiding in West Bengal.