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8 Bangladeshis detained in Singapore

Amirul Islam || risingbd.com

Published: 09:37, 3 May 2016   Update: 15:18, 26 July 2020
8 Bangladeshis detained in Singapore

The 8 detained Bangladeshi nationals

Risingbd Desk: Eight radicalised male Bangladeshi nationals were detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) in April this year, said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) of Singapore on Tuesday (May 3).

Among the eight, Rahman Mizanur was an S-Pass holder while the other seven were Work Permit holders, and were all employed in the local construction and marine industries, the press release said.

The eight men are: Rahman Mizanur, 31, Mamun Leakot Ali, 29, Sohag lbrahim, 27, Miah Rubel, 26, Zzaman Daulat, 34, Islam Shariful, 27, Md Jabath Kysar Haje Norul lslam Sowdagar, 30, Sohel Hawlader lsmail Hawlader, 29.

They were members of a secret group set up by Rahman in March this year called Islamic State in Bangladesh (ISB). The members had intended to join ISIS as foreign fighters, but as they felt it would be difficult for them to travel to Syria, focused their plans instead on returning home to overthrow the government through the use of force.

Their aim was to establish an Islamic state in Bangladesh and bring it under ISIS` self-declared caliphate, MHA said.

Investigations showed that the group had identified several possible attack targets in Bangladesh. In a document titled "We Need for Jihad Fight" recovered from Rahman, there was a list of Bangladeshi government and military officials who could be targeted for attack, the ministry said.

The founder of the group also possessed documents on weapons and bomb making, as well as significant amount of ISIS and Al Qaeda radical material, which he used to recruit ISB members in Singapore from January this year, it added.

The members had also planned to recruit other Bangladeshi nationals working here to grow their group, and had raised funds to buy firearms to carry out their planned terror attacks in Bangladesh. MHA said the money has since been seized.

The group posed a security concern to Singapore because of its support for ISIS and its readiness to use violence overseas. The detained ISB members are still under investigation for their activities in Singapore, the ministry said.

Rahman Mizanur, 31, had founded Islamic State in Bangladesh in March this year.

Rahman, for one, has said he would carry out an attack any where if he was instructed by ISIS, though there are no specific indications that Singapore had been selected as a target. Several of the detained may also be liable for prosecution for terrorism financing, it added.

Besides the eight detained, another five Bangladeshi workers here were also investigated under the ISA. While investigations showed they were not involved with ISB, they had "possessed and/or proliferated jihadi-related materials or supported the use of armed violence in pursuit of a religious cause".

They have been repatriated to Bangladesh, MHA said.

"The Singapore Government takes a very serious view of any form of support for terrorism. Any person, foreigner or otherwise, who engages in any activity that is inimical to Singapore`s national security and racial and religious harmony will be fìrmly dealt with under the law," the ministry said.

"ln this connection, foreigners should not import their own domestic political agenda into Singapore and carry out activities here in pursuit of such an agenda."

This is not the first time Bangladeshi nationals have been arrested for terror-related activities. In January, 27 men were reported to have been arrested under the ISA, and most of them had worked in Singapore for between two and seven years.

Source: Agencies

risingbd/DHAKA/May 3, 2016/Shahed/Amirul

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