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Six frontline leaders of the banned Islamist organisation Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh — convicted of murdering two judges in Jhalakati and believed to have masterminded the countrywide series of bombings on August 17, 2005 and subsequent suicide bombings — were executed late Thursday night amid secrecy and heightened security.
   The supreme commander of Jamaatul Mujahideen, Shaikh Abdur Rahman, was hanged in the Comilla prison, and his second-in-command, Siddiqul Islam Bangla Bhai, and son-in-law Abdul Awal in the Mymensingh prison.
   His younger brother Ataur Rahman Sunny and Iftekhar Hasan al-Mamun, a member of the JMB suicide squad, were executed in the Kashimpur prison and Khaled Saifullah, a member of the organisation’s highest policymaking body majlish-e-shura, in the Pabna jail.
   They were hanged almost simultaneously before midnight, in presence of senior prisons, police and local administration officials and amid tight security. Members of law-enforcement agencies handed the bodies to their families on Friday morning.
   The authorities earlier put the law-enforcement and security forces across the country on high alert in anticipation of revenge attacks by members of Jamaatul Mujahideen. Security in and around the prisons where the executions were to take place was heightened.
   The prison authorities told the militants that they would be hanged an hour before the execution was to take place. Apart from Mamun, all the militants were calm after hearing the news, prisons officials said.
   They took bath, offered prayers and recited the Qur’an before seeking divine blessings for the establishment of the rule of Allah, the officials said.
   ‘Sunny was calm before the execution but Mamun wept as he could not see his family before death,’ an official of the Kashimpur prison said.
   The body of Abdur Rahman, who was captured from Surya Dighal Bari in Sylhet on March 2, 2006, was taken to his village Charsi Khalifapara in Jamalpur, so was the body of Sunny, who was the military operations commander of Jamaatul Mujahideen and arrested in Dhaka on December 14, 2005.
   The body of Bangla Bhai, captured at Muktagachha in Mymensingh on March 6 after a brief gunfight, was taken
   to his Kornipara village under Gabtoli upazila in Bogra. Police handed the body over to his father.
   The body of Awal was taken to Kusumbi Kaliganj of Natore at about 7:00am by the Rapid Action Battalion and police. Awal’s elder brother Abdul Mannan received the body. Awal was buried after his namaz-e-janaza at the Banamali High School ground after Jum’a prayers.
   Khaleda Saifullah was arrested on April 26, 2006 in Demra and his body was received by his brother Belayet Hosssain in Pirojpur while Lal Chan received the body of his son Mamun from police in Purbapara village of Rajshahi.
   Lawmen were deployed at their village homes as hundreds of people gathered to see the bodies. The cops stood guard until their burial, reported our correspondents.
   A district court on August 30, 2006 sentenced to death the six and Arif on charge of killing Sohel Ahmed, 32, a senior assistant judge of Nalchhiti upazila, and Jagannath Parey, 35, a senior assistant judge of Jhalakati Sadar, when they were on their way to the courts on November 14, 2005.
   Arif has been absconding since the trial began.
   The High Court confirmed the verdict and the Supreme Court rejected their appeal against the High Court order. The militants then sought mercy from the president but were turned down.
   Senior prison officials said the militants had been hanged secretly as there were threats of revenge attacks by their followers.
   In the lead up to the hanging, police launched an anti-militancy clampdown and arrested dozens of suspected militants. A number of explosives were also recovered from their hideouts.
   Jamaatul Mujahideen carried out synchronised bombings in 63 districts on August 17, 2005.
   Subsequently, they also launched suicide attacks targeting courts. The attacks left at least 30 judges, cops, lawyers and others killed and were carried out in the name of establishing Islamic rule in Bangladesh.
   In the wake of the attacks, the immediate-past government of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led political alliance announced rewards for the arrest of top Jamaatul Mujahideen leaders. The law enforcement and intelligence agencies launched a joint operation and arrested the militant leaders and hundreds of their followers.
   The BNP-led government earlier denied existence of Islamist militancy in the country while Bangla Bhai and his men were carrying out their infamous cleansing operation against ultra-leftist Sarbahara operatives in 2004.
   Police and intelligence agencies on several occasions warned successive governments against the rise of Islamist militancy but their warnings were not paid heed to.
   Bangla Bhai was earlier arrested twice but released on bail because of either orders from higher authorities or flawed investigation report by police. Similar was the case with many other militants.

Before being taken to the gallows midnight Thursday, the six Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangla-desh men had no major wishes and their last minute deliberations were almost identical, jail officials said on Friday.
   They were first asked to have bath after which they offered two rakats of nafal prayers at about 10:30 pm, hours before they were hanged in four different jails.
   They refused to take bread and banana offered by the jail authorities. Asked if they wanted to have anything else, they all said that Allah had fed them enough and they were thankful to the Almighty.
   They said that they had no regrets for the death, although they were not ready to accept the trial process which was man-made and not ‘Islamic.’
   Jail and family sources said in the back of their mind, they always had the grievance that their mission to establish the rule of Allah in the country was not fulfilled.
   Except bomber Mamun, who could not see any of his family before the execution, all were apparently emotionless.
   Mamun started weeping when he was being approached to the gallows because he could not meet his parents, officials informed.
   Mamun’s poor father Lal Chand later in his reaction to New Age said, ‘I could not meet my son for want of money.’
   Khalid Saifullah, the explosive expert of the outfit, had requested his family members to burry his body without a bath as he claimed himself to be a shaheed (martyr).
   He also requested the jail authorities to send his holy Quran and his clothes to his elder brother.
   Shaikh Abdur Rahman’s son-in-law Abdul Awal wished to be buried beside his father’s grave in their family graveyard in Natore.

A number of the countries major political parties and professional, cultural and business associations on Friday expressed satisfaction at the executions of six top leaders of the banned Islamist militant outfit Jamaatul Mujahideen, Bangladesh late Thursday night.
   They appreciated the authorities concerned for carrying out the court’s sentence in due time and suggested that the government should rout militancy from the country forever by finding out and bringing the patrons of JMB to book.
   ‘Execution of the sentence was a must as these militants had threatened the very independence and sovereignty of the
   country by working against the spirit of the Liberation War,’ the Awami League general secretary, Abdul Jalil, told New Age. The government should eliminate such religious fanatics and their bands forever by finding out and ensuring punishment of their patrons, he added.
   If possible, the ultra-Islamist militants who are still at large should be encouraged and motivated to return to normal life. If they refuse, they should also be tried, Jalil maintained.
   ‘We praise the government for taking such an important decision and request it to take further measures to uproot this evil forever,’ the AL leader added.
   In reaction to the news, BNP joint secretary general Nazrul Islam Khan said his party believed in democracy and nationalist values and pointed out that it was the immediate past BNP-led government which had caught and brought the JMB linchpins to justice.
   In his opinion, ‘Islam is a religion of peace and in it there is no room for creating anarchy or panic by terrorist acts.’ Therefore, ‘we must ensure that no one will ever be able to create anarchy in the name of Islam,’ he added.
   The Communist Party of Bangladesh general secretary, Mujahidul Islam Selim, termed the executions as events taking place in the normal course of law. But, what is more important at the moment is to detect, nab and punish the behind-the-scene masterminds and patrons of the militant outfits, he maintained.
   The CPB leader also observed that ‘it would have been better if the information extracted from the convicts during interrogation were made public so that people knew who are their fellows and supporters, what they want to accomplish, why and how etc.’
   The Workers Party of Bangladesh president, Rashed Khan Menon, said the people of the country hailed the executions of the JMB top coats.
   ‘Now,’ he said, ‘the protectors, sponsors and patrons of this and other Islamic terrorist groups must be traced and tried to make the country free of the menace forever.’
   Menon also named Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh as one of the patrons of the JMB which had been trying to turn Bangladesh into a theocracy.
   However, the reaction of Jamaat-e-Islami to the event was similar to others’. Jamaat assistant secretary general Muhammad Quamruzzaman expressed satisfaction at implementation of the court’s order which, he said, was desired by all. He also noted that, ‘Islam does not allow extremism and killing of people in the name of religion.’
   The Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal president, Hasanul Haque Inu, dubbed the hangings as one of the major steps taken against political crimes and for establishing the rule of law in the country.
   ‘The execution of the sentence proves that if the state machinery — the government wings — are sincere, criminals are bound to be punished sooner or later,’ Inu said.
   Kazi Firoz Rashid, a presidium member of the Ershad-led Jatiya Party, however, refused to make any comment on the executions.
   The Supreme Court Bar Association president, Amir Ul Islam, lauded the government for successfully carrying out the court’s judgement, adding people would now feel relieved.
   ‘I have another point to make in this regard — it is the fact that the hangings of merely six militant leaders do not offer any guarantee that the campaign against the misguided militants will succeed. For that it is a must to trace and expose their godfathers and patrons who have been furnishing them with material and financial resources,’ he told New Age.
   The Dhaka University Teachers’ Association general secretary, Professor Anwar Hossain, said, ‘The rise of Islamist militancy in Bangladesh had certain political colour. The executions of the six militant kingpins will take the rule of law one more step forward and give back to people the customary trust in the judiciary.’
   The Sammilito Sangskritik Jote president, Nasir Uddin Yousuff said, ‘This was a right thing to do. This was necessary. The punishment was their due for committing crimes and atrocities against the humanity.’ The people of the country have been assured by the implementation of the sentence, he added.
   ‘The law should take its own course. And the Islamist zealots were executed accordingly,’ observed the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers’ and Exporters’ Association president, Anwar ul Alam Chowdhury Parvez. He said it would boost Bangladesh’s positive image abroad.
   Abul Kashem Ahmed, director of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said, ‘Like the rest of the nation, the executions met the expectations of the business community, too.’
   ‘With this it has been proved now that the country is truly governed by the law. The JMB men deserved to be hanged as they defied the law of the land and its constitution’ was his straightforward remark.

Six militant kingpins were executed Thursday night but the nation was still in the dark about the people behind the scenes who had aided and abetted militancy and also about the sources of terror funding.
   The authorities concerned did not even make public the information and evidence gathered from the linchpins of the banned Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh before executing the chief of the militant outfit Shaikh Abdur Rahman, his second-in-command Siddiqul Islam Bangla Bhai, militant commander Ataur Rahman Sunny, regional commander Abdul Awal, suicide squad member Iftekhar Hasan Al-Mamun and majlish-e-shura member Khaled Saifullah in connection with the November 14, 2005 bomb attack in Jhalakati which killed two judges.
   A total of 341 cases were filed against the JMB operatives since the August 17, 2005 countrywide series of bombings.
   The law enforcing agencies have, so far, arrested around 750 people in connection with these cases. The arrested people are now in different jails of the country, official said.
   Some 154 cases were filed with different police stations relating to the August 17 synchronised bombings while 187 cases were registered later.
   Charge sheets have been submitted in 181 cases while trials of 12 of the cases have been completed.
   Although the six JMB top operatives were hanged in the Jhalakati judges’ murder case, there were 69 other cases against Shaikh Abdur Rahman, 66 against Siddiqul Islam Bangla Bhai, and 61 other cases against Ataur Rahman Sunny.
   On August 17, 2005, the militant outfit launched a series of bomb attacks in 63 out of 64 districts of the country, especially on court premises, declaring that they did not believe in the man-made laws and the existing judicial system.
   The militants are believed to have patrons at home and abroad who covertly backed the rise of militancy.
   Meanwhile, intelligence agencies have reported to the home ministry that militants hiding in different parts of the country could attack government establishments.
   Gana Forum president Dr Kamal Hossain told a television interview on Friday that the people at home and abroad who had patronised the militants should be identified. ‘Some were lenient to militancy and terrorism in a bid to cling to power,’ he observed.
   A former inspector general of police told New Age that a report on the rise of militancy and bomb attacks was prepared last year by the police but it was never made public.
   Although the media came up with numerous reports at different times pointing fingers at some cabinet members of the immediate-past government, no visible progress was made so far in the investigation for identifying the patrons of militancy in the name of Islam.
   Many in the police department believe that mere special operations or capture of some militant kingpins are not enough to uproot the menace as thousands of trained and motivated members of the Islamist outfit have developed an underground network across the country in various names like Harkatul Jihad and Al-Hiqma.
   Investigations of the bombings that began from the Udichi function in March, 1999 suggest that major terrorist operations including the August 21,
   2004 grenade attacks on an Awami League rally in Dhaka were orchestrated by the
   banned Islamist outfit, Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh.
   The JMB itself claimed responsibility for the series of bombings and the subsequent suicide attacks. The arrested members reportedly also confessed to have plotted the attacks at Ramna Batamul, on cinemas at Mymensingh, on the Udichi function at Jessore and the attack on late Professor Humayun Azad.
   About the execution of the six JMB leaders, a former police official who was involved in the anti-militancy drives said, ‘It should not make us complacent since the beneficiaries and the sources of funding of the outfits are yet to be identified.’

South Asian leaders will concentrate on a raft of regional issues with economic connectivity topping the agenda when they will converge on the summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation in the Indian capital from April 3.
   Entry of Afghanistan as the newest member and joining of European Union, United States, China, Japan and South Korea as observers add extra features to this summit, 14th of its kind since the regional bloc was formed in 1985 in Dhaka grouping seven nations.
   The summit would also consider Iran’s intention to be involved with the South Asian group as an observer. India, Pakistan and Bangladesh have shown positive response towards Iranian proposal.
   In the run-up to the two-day summit, top bureaucrats and diplomats are now busy doing the groundwork and readying the agenda for endorsement of the regional leaders.
   The SAARC programming committee on Friday finalised a number of reports on various issues for consideration of the standing committee, comprising the foreign ministers of SAARC nations.
   Foreign secretaries are expected to deal with broader issues including prospects of economic connectivity and cooperation within the region and beyond at a meeting on Saturday, said Navtes Sarna, spokesperson for Indian external affairs ministry.
   The programming committee considered a number of reports, prepared by various expert committees, including those on establishment of South Asian University, regional telemedicine network, SAARC museum for textile and handicrafts, human resource development, bio-technology and energy.
   ‘The recommendations will be placed before the standing committee meeting tomorrow,’ Sarna told a news briefing Friday evening. He added all the member states attended the meeting while Afghanistan joined on special invitation.   India, which is hosting the summit for the third time, considers it a ‘landmark’ event as officials believe the summit this time would enable the subcontinent to reconnect itself with rest of the world more effectively and meaningfully.
   In addition, they said the regional bloc, now in its third decade, would be more effective with its enlargement after joining of Afghanistan as a full member and presence of global superpowers as SAARC observers.
   To make it a success, the Indian government has been giving final touch to host the 14th summit at Vigyan Bhawan. Security has been beefed up to ensure safe movements of the SAARC dignitaries, who have already started arriving in New Delhi.
   Bangladesh foreign affairs adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury is scheduled to arrive in New Delhi Saturday, two days ahead of the SAARC foreign minister’s meeting.
   SAARC foreign ministers will sit on April 2 to finalise the draft declaration and complete other formalities for the summit, to be attended by SAARC heads of government or state.
   Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh, Pakistani prime minister Shaukat Aziz, chief adviser to Bangladesh’s interim government Fakhruddin Ahmed, Bhutanese prime minister Khandu Wangchuk, Nepalese prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala, Maldives president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapakse and Afghan president Hamid Karzai will attend the summit
   Representatives from the observers would address the summit for the first time, eyeing the region’s growing strategic importance.
   US assistant secretary of sate for South Asia, Richard Boucher, Chinese foreign minister Li Zhaoxing, Japanese foreign minister Taro Aso, South Korean foreign and trade minister Song Min-soon and a Delhi-based representative of the European Union would make their brief deliberations at the summit.
   The guests speakers are expected to focus on cooperation within and beyond SAARC to improve the life of more than 150 crore people in South Asia through enhanced regional connectivity.
   The Indian prime minister had proposed at the 13th SAARC summit a better connectivity among the member states and is expected to pursue the same in this summit.
   Bangladesh’s interim government headed by Fakhruddin Ahmed is supportive of this effort. Fakhrudidn is expected to be in New Delhi on April 2.

It will be a proud moment for the Bangla-desh team when they take the field against Australia in Antigua today, having qualified for the super eights (second round) of the World Cup for the first time.
   It will be a real baptism of fire for the Tigers, as they take on the world champions, a match which they are not expected to win.
   The all-conquering Aussies are aiming for a third consecutive World Cup trophy, and having easily beaten South Africa and the West Indies within the last week, should not have much trouble in taming the Tigers.
   However, having beaten Australia in that memorable match in Cardiff less than two years ago, the Bangladesh players will at least play with the belief that on their day, and if the Australians perform a shade or two below their usual high standards, they can win against the mighty Aussies. That belief will hopefully work to inspire the Tigers as they embark on this daunting challenge.
   The confidence and self-belief in the Bangladesh team is obviously at an all-time high, having qualified for the super eights from the group that was named the ‘group of death’ in this World Cup.
   The fantastic victory over India followed by a win against Bermuda have guaranteed the Tigers six more matches in the competition’s second round, a wonderful achievement for a team that is typically grouped with the minnows in international cricket.
   However, through their performances in this World Cup, the Tigers have proved that they have bridged the gap significantly between themselves and the ‘big boys’ of international cricket, and now have enough talent and quality to win fairly regularly against the better sides.
   Australia will pose a very difficult challenge all the same, as they seem to be peaking at just the right time.
   Having come into the tournament in poor form, after losing to England in the VB Bank Series and then getting thrashed by New Zealand 3-0 in the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy, the Aussies have put an end to all doubts regarding their chances of winning the cup, by amassing over 300 runs in each of their four matches so far in the tournament.
   If Australia bats first, Bangladesh will have to aim to restrict their much vaunted batting line-up to less than 300 to have a realistic chance of chasing the target, something that the South African and West Indian bowlers have failed to do in this tournament.
   And if the Australians bowl first, the Bangladeshi batsmen will have to put up a score as close to 300 as possible, for anything less, one feels, will be a cakewalk for the likes of Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting, Andrew Symonds, Michael Clarke and Michael Hussey to chase.
   Even though a win is unlikely, Bangladeshis around the world will hope that the Tigers will put up a good all-round performance against the champions, just as they did against India in their first match in the World Cup.
   They will hope that the senior players like Habibul Bashar, Mohammad Ashraful, Mashrafee bin Murtaza and Mohammad Rafique will play with maturity and responsibility to allow the young talents like Tamim Iqbal and Saqibul Hasan to play their brand of brash, fearless cricket that can take Bangladesh past the Aussies.
   A good performance will be a great boost for the team, and will set the stage for the Tigers for the rest of the competition.

England rode on Paul Collingwood’s fighting half-century and four wickets by Andrew Flintoff to beat Ireland by 48 runs in their Super Eights match here on Friday.
   Collingwood hit an 82-ball 90 to help England overcome early wobbles to put up a respectable 266-7 in their allotted 50 overs after electing to bat at the Guyane National Stadium.
   Flintoff then grabbed 4-43 as Ireland found the going tough against the English attack and managed 218 in 48.1 overs with Niall O’Brien fighting a lone hand with a gritty 63.
   England, who were without any carry over points, achieved their desired result and now face Sri Lanka at Antigua on April 4, while Ireland, who upset Pakistan to reach the second round, gave a good account of themselves despite losing.
   Chasing a formidable target, Ireland lost opener Jeremy Bray (nought) and Eoin Morgan (two) early in their innings before Niall O’Brien added 61 for the third wicket with William Porterfield (31) to raise some hope for their team.
   Niall O’Brien then put on another 44 for the fourth wicket with Andre Botha (18) before left-arm spinner Monty Panesar derailed the innings by dismissing Botha and then Kevin O’Brien (12) to finish with 2-31 off his ten overs.
   Niall O’Brien fell soon after, stumped off English skipper Michael Vaughan to quash any outside hopes of a famous win. He hit fours during his 88-ball knock.
   Ireland skipper Trent Johnston (27) and Andrew White (38) did try to hit out but their efforts were too late and too little.
   Earlier, it was Collingwood who resurrected England’s innings.
   He added an invaluable 81 runs for the fourth wicket with Flintoff (43) to lift England from a precarious 113-4.
   The 30-year-old Collingwood kept one end intact and hit eight boundaries and three sixes during his stubborn knock before he was finally run out in the last over.
   Collingwood’s knock came after England lost opener Ed Joyce (one), and Vaughan (six) as early as the sixth over.
   Ireland were given a good start by their lanky paceman Boyd Rankin who surprised Joyce, a former Irish international, with a sharp incoming delivery which hit the off-stump in the second over before forcing an edge off Vaughan to wicket-keeper Niall O’Brien.
   The 6ft 7in fast bowler finished with 2-28 off his seven overs.
   Kevin Pietersen hit three boundaries off Johnston’s opening over as he and Ian Bell (31) steadied the innings during their 66-run stand for the third wicket.
   When it seemed Pietersen would put together a big score, he was smartly snapped up at mid-wicket by William Porterfield off Kyle McCallan.
   Pietersen, the new world number one batsman, hit five boundaries during his 47-ball 48.
   Flintoff, who failed to score in England’s first round defeat against New Zealand and was dropped from the team over late night drinking for the Canada match, looked threatening as he hit a boundary off the first ball he faced.

The education ministry is going to finalise a uniform recruitment policy for all public universities soon, officials in the ministry and the University Grants Commission said.
   The ministry in a letter on March 22 asked the UGC to send proposals for a uniform policy for recruitment, promotion and service upgrading of teachers, officials and employees of the universities as quickly as possible.
   ‘The ministry sought the proposals quickly from the UGC so as to finalise the policy soon,’ reads the letter signed by an assistant secretary.
   At present 27 public universities follow dissimilar recruitment and promotion rules for their teachers, officials and employees.
   The UGC officials said they had already finalised a proposal with a number of recommendations to be incorporated in the planned uniform recruitment policy and would sent it to the ministry within a few days.
   The commission suggested adopting a standard recruitment policy for teachers and staff of all public universities to bring all recruitments under one umbrella and to facilitate research work at university level.
   Such a policy, particularly for the faculties, would provide openings for qualified members through a transparent process and ensure accountability of teachers, sources said.
   The UGC proposal recommended that four first classes should be made mandatory for direct recruitment as a lecturer in science, vocational, engineering, and business administration faculties, and at least three first classes for a faculty position in the humanities and social sciences faculties.
   Candidates with an MPhil or a PhD will get priority over those having the minimum educational qualifications required.
   There will be three categories of ]teachers eligible for promotion from lecturer to assistant professor. No one who has a third class certificate at any educational level will be eligible for promotion.
   The UGC recommended that the assistant professors with a PhD or equivalent qualification with at least seven-year teaching experience at university level including four years as an assistant professor should be eligible for promotion to the rank of associate professor. They also must have at least five research publications.
   To get a full professorship,
   a teacher with a PhD or
   equivalent qualification must have a 12-year teaching experience including at least a six-year stint as an associate professor. He or she should also have a minimum of 15 research publications.
   Those who have MPhil or equivalent degree must have 18-year teaching experience including seven years’ of service as associate professor can also be made professors. They also should have at least 15 research publications each.
   Speaking to New Age on Thursday, the UGC chairman, Professor M Asaduzzaman, said the proposed provisions would help the universities to recruit qualified faculty members through a transparent process and ensure accountability of teachers.

Shaikh Abdur Rahman, chief of the banned Islamist outfit Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangla-desh, a veteran of the previous
   Afghan war had run militant activities in Bangladesh secretly since 1998.
   Abdur Rahman, aged about 50, was born in Charshi Khalifapara in the Jamalpur district headquarters. He joined the Islami Chhatra Shibir early 1970 when he was a student and then joined the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh.
   He studied at Madina Islami University in Saudi Arabia in the early 1980s and later worked with the Saudi embassy in Dhaka for five years from 1985.
   He visited many countries including India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and Malaysia.
   His father, the late Maulana Abdullah Ibne Fazal, was accused of collaborating
   with the Pakistani forces during the war of independence in 1971.
   He ran Al-Madina Islamic Cadet Madrassah and a mosque in Jamalpur. Saudi non-governmental organisation
   Rabeta-e-Islam and Kuwait-based non-governmental organisation Revival of Islamic Heritage Society provided him with the fund to set up the institutions.
   His existence came to light when he came forward in 2004 in support of Jamaatul Mujahideen’s operations commander Siddiqul Islam, also known as Bangla Bhai, as the latter’s anti-Sarbahara operations in some northern districts provoked media outrage.
   Bangla Bhai, allegedly sheltered by several former BNP lawmakers, led a spate of killings in Rajshahi, Natore and Naogaon early 2004.
   In an interview with media in 2004, Abdur Rahman said the members and supporters of the outfit were divided into three tiers: ehsar, comprising full-timers higher on the echelon who act at the directive of
   the high command, gayeri ehsar, comprising part
   timers below the ehsar and a third one comprising people who indirectly cooperate with the outfit.
   In a press note issued on February 23, 2005, the home affairs ministry banned the Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh and the Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh, accusing Abdur Rahman and Siddiqul Islam of carrying out bomb attacks and killings to create anarchy.
   Abdur Rahman was arrested at a hideout in Sylhet along with his family members on March 2, 2006.

Dreaded militant kingpin Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai grabbed headlines suddenly when his men started the so-called vigilante operation in Rajshahi-Naogaon region holding ‘trials’ of left-wing extremists in his rural ‘Islamic courts’ and executing them in the open in April, 2004.
   A Taliban-trained bigot, he had been involved in clandestine militant activities since 1998.
   Third son of Nazir Hossain Pramanik of Karnipara village in Gabtoli upazila of Bogra district, he had been actively involved with Islami Chhatra Shibir, student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami, for long.
   Also known as Azizur Rahman and Omar Ali alias Litu, he taught at Shibir-run Retina Coaching Centre in Bogra town for long. He was also a teacher at another Shibir-run coaching centre in Dhaka.
   After passing Dakhil examinations from Tarafsartaz Madrassah in Bogra in 1989, he passed HSC examinations from Azizul Haq College. He got third class in master’s degree examinations from Rajshahi University and was then fired from Lathiganj School and College in Lathiganj.
   Bangla Bhai ran rice trade with his elder brother Rafiqul Islam for a few years after his master’s examinations.
   He was hand-picked by Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) chief Shaikh Abdur Rahman in 1996 as a close associate because of his involvement with Islamist outfits.
   The JMB chief sent Bangla Bhai to Afghanistan where he was trained in using different kinds of firearms and explosives.
   His activities came into the surface after his Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB) began killing people in the northern region in the name of cleansing the region of left-wing outlaws from April 1, 2004.
   On May 17, 2004 the JMJB activists caught Idris Ali alias Khejur Ali, Bashar and Abdul Qaiyum Badsha from different villages of Raninagar upazila in Naogaon.
   Bangla Bhai killed Badsha in Bamangram village of Nandigram upazila and the body was hung upside down from a tree for public view. The terrible incident sent shockwaves through the country.
   Police recovered the body of Ali, sliced in seven pieces, from a shallow grave at Bhitigram in Naogaon on May 28, 2004.
   Before the grisly daylight killings, the JMJB militants announced through loudhailers on May 19, 2004 that some people including Ali would be executed in public the next day.
   Bangla Bhai set up five camps in Rajshahi and Naogaon and declared that he intended to ‘cleanse’ the region of left-wing outlaws.
   A day after the August 17, 2005 countrywide terror bombings, Bangla Bhai’s father Nazir Hossain severed relations with his son through an affidavit. A few days later, the militant kingpin’s father-in-law did the same with his daughter.
   Although the JMJB operatives killed 22 people including a former serviceman in Rajshahi and Naogaon, the then administration did not take any actions against Bangla Bhai.
   He was detained several times but freed immediately because of intervention by some influential leaders of the immediate-past government.
   He was finally arrested on March 6, 2006 from a ‘hideout’ at Muktagachha in Mymensingh.

Ataur Rahman Sunny, younger brother of JMB chief Shaikh Abdur Rahman and ‘military commander’ of the Islamist outfit, was an expert in manufacturing deadly explosives of different types, including grenades.
   Sunny, 30, a former leader of Islami Chhatra Shibir, student front of the Jamaat-e-Islami, was trained in making and using explosives by Rohingya terrorists who had fought the Afghan war.
   Intelligence sources said after Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami leader Mufti Abdul Hannan, Sunny was the most experienced, among Islamist militants, in handling explosives.
   They said the hand-made grenades, found at Manda in Dhaka on December 15, 2005, were the outcome of his efforts.
   The bombs used in the August 17 countrywide blasts and the subsequent suicide attacks were also his invention, they said.
   Sunny, a member of JMB Majlish-e-Sura, used to coordinate all militant and terrorist operations, including bomb attacks, of the banned organisation.
   Born in Chasara Khalifapara under sadar upazila of Jamalpur, he got involved in Shibir politics soon after taking admission to the Islamic University in Kushtia in 1998.
   A year later, he left the university and joined the JMB.
   He passed Dakhil examinations from Kamalkhan Hat Senior Madrassah in 1996 and alim from Beltia Madrassah in Jamalpur in 1998.
   Inspired by his brother Shaikh Rahman, Sunny had brought many Shibir leaders and
   activists into the JMB fold and established a countrywide terror network.
   He was assigned the task of forming a special squad of the outfit and made commander of the JMB’s ‘military wing’. He also recruited and trained suicide bombers.
   Sunny was arrested along with 18 other militants after a gunfight between JMB militants and the police at Khetlal in Jaipurhat on August 14, 2003 when a secret conference of the JMB operatives was in progress there.
   He later managed his release allegedly with the blessings of influential Jamaat leaders and went into hiding and resumed clandestine activities.
   Before the August 17, 2005 bombings, he set up a secret militant camp in the remote village of Gonarchar at Sharishabari in Jamalpur, on the bank of the river Jamuna. He began visiting districts such as Kushtia, Rajshahi, Joypurhat, Dinajpur, Rangpur, Bogra, Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar, Comilla and Gazipur.
   Sunny was arrested from Latif dormitory of the Polytechnic Institute at Tejgaon in the capital on December 14, 2005.

Abdul Awal, the son-in-law of JMB chief Shaikh Abdur Rahman, had been actively involved in the politics of Islami Chhatra Shibir, student front of the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, before he joined the banned Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh.
   Hailing from Kushumbi Kaliganj village under Singra upazila in Natore, Awal passed Secondary School Certificate examinations from Banomali High School in 1994.
   He came in touch with Shaikh Abdur Rahman as a close friend of his younger brother Sunny in 1997 and was sent to different clandestine training centres run by the Islamist outfit and acquired expertise in handling different types of firearms and explosives.
   His organisational skill and oratory soon made him a close aide to Abdur Rahman and subsequently a member of the organisation’s majlish-e-shura or highest policy-making body.
   Awal hogged the limelight when he joined Siddiqul Islam Bangla Bhai, second-in-command of Jamaatul Mujahideen, and other majlish-e-shura members in the so-called cleansing operation against the ultra-left Sarbahara operatives in the northern districts in April, 2004.
   Operatives of Jamaatul Mujahideen picked up Idris Ali alias Khejur Ali, Bashar and Abdul Qaiyum Badshah from different villages of Raninagar upazila in Naogaon on May 17, 2004. Awal and other JMB activists killed Badshah and hung his body upside down from a tree three days later at village Bamangram of Nandigram upazila in Bogra.
   Awal and Bangla Bhai along with Ataur Rahman Sunny and two frontline operatives of the Islamist organisation, set up five camps in Rajshahi and to ‘cleanse the region of ultra left outlaws’.
   Impressed by his ‘dedication to the cause of Islam’, the JMB chief married his daughter Afifa off to Awal in 2002 and made him majlish-e-shura member and northern regional chief of the outfit.
   He admitted to making and distributing bombs, and planning attacks for the JMB.
   He was arrested from Thakurgaon on November 18, 2005 along with five of his accomplices.

Iftekhar Hasan Al Mamun alias Sheikh Mamun, 21, the Jhalakati suicide bomber, was a former activist of Islami Chhatra Shibir, student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami.
   Mamun hailed from Bashmari under Motihar police station in Rajshahi. His father Kamruzzaman was a night guard at a multi-storey shopping complex owned by former BNP lawmaker Nadim Mustafa in the city’s Binodpur area.
   Mamun, the eldest son of the family, studied up to class IX at Masjid Mission Academy in Binodpur, a stronghold of the party. Their house is located near a mosque-cum-Islami training centre at Dasmari.
   He worked at Ruchita bakery in Munshidanga in Rajshahi city but quit the job in early 2003 for a visit to Dhaka to attend a meeting of Majlish-e-Sura, the highest policy-making body of the JMB.
   Mamun joined the JMB in 2000 and carried out his responsibilities in Rajshahi before being promoted as a member of the suicide squad of the outfit.
   He was one of the key operatives of the JMB who along with Bangla Bhai carried out the so-called vigilante operation in Rajshahi in April, 2004.
   Soon after the Jhalakati bomb attack on November 14, 2005, locals captured Mamun and turned him in to police and Rapid Action Battalion.
   The JMB suicide bomber tried to detonate another bomb strapped to one of his thighs on way to hospital, but the RAB and police foiled the attempt.
   Mamun gave a confessional statement in the hospital before first class magistrate Munim Hossain in presence of police, RAB and journalists.
   Mamun said he had acted at the directive of Rajshahi JMB leader Mustafa and Shaikh Abdur Rahman was their commander-in-chief.
   He came to Jhalakati from Rajshahi about two weeks before the bomb attack on two judges and was received at the bus stand by local JMB operatives Newaz, Rahim, Karim and others.
   They took him to Krishnakati and showed him the spots of the planned bomb attack.
   Mamun said the attack was a suicide bombing in nature and he knew that he might be killed.
   Locals also seized some handwritten leaflets from his possession, which read: ‘We
   do not want Taguti [non-Islamic] law, let Quranic law be introduced. Law framed by humans cannot be accepted and only the laws of Allah will prevail.’

Mohammad Faruk Hossain also known as Khaled Saifullah was an activist of the Islami Chhatra Shibir, student front of the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, when he was a student.
   He later joined Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami, another Islamist organisation, which was later banned.
   Khaled, who was born in Goalta at Kaukhali in Pirojpur, passed the Secondary School Certificate examinations from Zinnat Ali Memorial High School in Pirojpur in 1979. The then took admission to Madrassah-e-Aliyah in Dhaka.
   He completed his alim course, equivalent to the Higher Secondary Certificate, in the early 1980s and joined Ayesha Siddique Salafiya Islamia Women Madrassah at Chhota Gurgola in Dinajpur as an administrative officer.
   Khaled’s father, the late Nurul Islam Khan also known as Nuru Razakar, was accused of collaborating with the Pakistani forces during the war of independence in 1971 and had been killed by freedom fighters just before war ended.
   He came in contact with the Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh chief, Shaikh Abdur Rahman, through Mufti Hannan of the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami Bangladesh, in 1999.
   His organisational skills earned him a membership of the organisation’s majlish-e-shura, the highest policy-making body.
   Abdur Rahman took Khaled on visits to India, Pakistan and Afghanistan where he received training in explosives.
   He married Taslima, a garment employee at Mirpur in Dhaka, when he was carrying out Harkat-ul-Jihad activities in Dhaka in 1993.
   He came in the limelight when he joined Siddiqul Islam, the second in command of the Jamaatul Mujahideen, and other majlish-e-shura members in the so-called cleansing operation against the ultra-left Sarbahara operatives in the northern districts in April 2004.
   The Dinajpur police launched a manhunt for him after a blast at a mess of the Ayesha Siddique Salafiya Islamia Women Madrassah in 2003.
   He was arrested in Rajshahi at the end of 2004, but was released from jail on July 23, 2005.
   He was later arrested at Demra in Dhaka along with his wife on April 26, 2006.

The Islamist militants have emerged on the shoulders of two major political parties — the Awami League and the BNP — mainly since 1991 as the successive governments showed ‘soft attitude’ towards the militants arrested and their activities, according to investigators.
   They said poor handling of the cases by the police also helped different militant groups to ensconce themselves and spread their networks across the country.
   Investigators said both the parties wanted to use religion to win elections and nurtured the Islamist groups to show their commitment to Islam which in the long run boomeranged on them.
   In the past, major figures such as the Jagrata Muslim Janata operations commander, Siddiqul Islam also known Bangla Bhai, could be arrested in possession of firearms, bombs, explosives, and objectionable books and documents, but they could conveniently slip through the security net.
   With enough proof to charge them under sections that could have ensured conviction, most of the men were arrested under Section 54 of the Code of Criminal Procedures to weaken the cases, creating grounds for their release.
   In most cases, law enforcers framed charges against them in such a way that they could easily be remanded on bail, while in some cases the police let them go after the arrests in exchange for money, the investigators said.
   Many names such as Bangla Bhai’s were dropped from the case documents for reasons unknown, and the cases were quashed at the instruction of powerful quarters in the government.
   On August 14, 2003 the police arrested 19 militants at Khetlal in Jaipurhat after a gunfight with the Jamaatul Mujahedin activists. The armed activists of the outfit attacked the policemen when they raided a house where a secret meeting was taking place.
   The police accused 42 persons in the case. Thirty-two of them were arrested and all were later remanded on bail. The same year, the police arrested seven Jamaatul Mujahideen activists at Kalai in Jaipurhat on April 25 under Section 54. All were remanded on bail after the police had submitted the final report of the case.
   In 2002, five suspected activists of the same organisation were arrested at Parbatipur in possession of bombs while they were undergoing training at dead of night. They were also later remanded on bail.
   According to the police, the first of such arrests of militants took place at Ukhia in Cox’s Bazar when they and the army rounded up 41 militants of the banned Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Huji at a village in possession of arms, explosives and army dresses back in 1996.
   They were sentenced to life imprisonment by a lower court, but were later remanded by a higher court on bail only to regroup and resume their activities on a much wider scale. At Chhota Gurgola in Dinajpur, several Jamaatul Mujahideen men were injured when a bomb went off in a hostel in February 2003. The police arrested three of the injured in Rangpur. All were released although charge sheet was submitted.
   The biggest act of ‘collusion’ or ‘softness’, perhaps, was the one in Bagerhat when the operations leader of the now-banned Jagrata Muslim Janata, Bangla Bhai, was arrested and then released when his name was dropped from an attempt-to-murder case.
   Bangla Bhai attacked the house of an Awami League leader at Mollarhat and tried to kill him on August 17, 2002. He was captured along with 12 of his gang members, all in possession of firearms. Bangla Bhai’s name was dropped from the charge sheet, and he and his followers were released.
   In Barguna on June 30, 2004, 33 militants were arrested while they were receiving training at a mosque at night, but the investigation officer brought charges against only six of them and the rest were released on a court order.
   More than a dozen intelligence reports were submitted to the government pointing to alarming rise of the Islamist militancy, but they remained shelved until the Jamaatul Mujahideen carried out the August 17 series of bombings.
   Jihadi activities began in 1984 after the Afghan war veterans returned. Religious zealots Matiur Rahman, Maulana Abdur Rahman Faruki and Mufti Abdul Hannan announced the formation of the Islamist militant group Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami Bangladesh at a news briefing at the National Press Club in 1992.
   The group was involved in the August 17 countrywide bombings, planting 76 kilograms of explosive at Kotalipara to kill Sheikh Hasina, who was then prime minister, Ramna Batamul bombing, and the Baniarchar Catholic Church bombing. The militant groups had spread across the country, especially in the northern and south-western regions since 1998. Abdur Rahman formed the Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh in 1998 on his return from Afghanistan.
   The militants openly started their activities in the name of cleansing Sarbaharas in the north. No action was taken although Bangla Bhai openly led the operation, killing and maiming scores of people. Now investigators believe Islamist militant groups were behind most of the attacks that took place in the country. They used their trained and suicide members and launched attack in a guerrilla style.

Security was heightened all over the country on Friday to check against any untoward incident after the execution of six Jamaatul Mujahideen linchpins in different jails late Thursday night.
   The members on the staff of the diplomatic missions and international agencies in Dhaka were asked by their respective authorities to move abut with caution during the ‘red alert’ as there was apprehension of subversive acts following the execution.
   Check points were set up and deployment of forces was reinforced at different strategic points in the capital city and elsewhere in the country, officials said.
   People entering the mosques during the congregation prayers were frisked while the police, Rapid Action Battalion and the army personnel started their patrol early Friday.
   A senior police official said raids were also carried out on some places to arrest suspected associates of the Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh. The official, however, did not name the places.
   The law-enforcing agencies also tightened security in Chittagong and deployed more than 4,000 security personnel, including 600 Rapid Action Battalion members, the police said. Thirty check points were set up at the city entry points.
   A huge contingent of paramilitary Bangladesh Rifles guarded the Chittagong central jail when additional security personnel were deployed at key-point installations in the city.
   The police were put on alert in all the districts against any possible attack by the militant outfit. The battalion members remained on guard in the village homes of the kingpins until their burial.

The chief adviser to the interim government, Fakhruddin Ahmed, will fly to New Delhi Monday on a four-day visit to attend the 14th SAARC summit as the outgoing chairperson of the South Asian regional forum.
   The chief adviser will lead a 15-member delegation, including the foreign adviser, Iftekhar Ahmed, to the summit. His spouse will accompany him during his first foreign tour since his assumption of office as the CA.
   Fakhruddin will assume the chair and declare open the 14th SAARC summit at Vigyan Bhawan on April 3 and hand over charge of the forum to its new chairperson Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh.
   The 14th summit is considered important as Afghanistan is going to be formally incorporated as a new member of the seven-nation SAARC, and China, Japan, South Korea, the USA and EU are going to attend the summit as observers. Fakhruddin will have a number of bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the summit with the heads of state and government of the SAARC countries.
   On the first day of his arrival in New Delhi on April 2, the chief adviser is scheduled to have a bilateral meeting with Manmohan in the host premier’s residence. He would have another meeting with the president of Sri Lanka the same day.
   On April 3, after the inauguration of the summit, he will call on the Indian president, APJ Abdul Kalam, at Rastrapati Bhawan.
   On April 4, he will have separate bilateral meetings with the Pakistan prime minister and the prime minister of Bhutan. April 5, the last day, he will have a bilateral meeting with the prime minister of Nepal.
   The chief adviser is scheduled to return home on April 5.

The Baghmara police during a raid in the morning on Friday arrested two close associates of Bangla Bhai.
   The arrestees were accused in three cases, including two murder cases, the police said.
   The Baghmara police officer-in-charge, Mirza Golam Sarwar, said a police team raided different villages and picked up two Jamaatul Mujahideen activists — Mobarak Ali, 42, at Goalkandi and Muhammad Ali, 40, at Konabari.
   They were accused in Mokbul chairman killing case, Mukul killing case and attacking the police at Baghmara.
   The two were sent to the Rajshahi jail after interrogation, the police said.

The Mohammadpur police on Friday arrested 22 people with ties to Islamist outfit Hijbut Tahrir.
   They were taken to the police station for questioning after they were arrested
   at Mohammadpur in the Dhaka city.
   The officer-in-charge of the police station, Shibly Noman, told the news agency that the arrestees had links to Islamic fundamentalism.

Thousands of people protested Friday against Thailand’s military junta, despite the government’s announcement that it would hold elections in December to restore democracy.
   The police estimated the crowd at 2,000, although organisers said 3,000 protesters were at the rally, outside Bangkok’s municipal centre, calling on the junta to step down.
   ‘I am really against any government that resulted from an undemocratic system, because it is not right to take power by force,’ said one 52-year-old protester, who asked only to be identified as Yod.
   ‘If the junta tries to use their power to prevent people from coming to the protest, people defy them,’ he said.
   Security forces were hardly visible, staying largely on the sidelines of the protest,
   one of the largest since the
   military-backed coup that ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in September last year.
   The police had said they would deploy some 1,500 officers Friday to maintain order, but police at the scene said only about 250 were there.

The UK-based Cairn Energy has deferred the drilling of exploration well at the Hatia structure in the Bay of Bengal till the next dry season, November to April, as it will not have much time left in the remaining dry season after drilling a production well in the Sangu gas field.
   The company aimed at drilling an exploration well at the highly prospective Hatiya structure under Block 16 this dry season, when sea remains calm, after drilling an appraisal well at the south Sangu gas field starting from January and the production well at the Sangu field.
   ‘As the company has not yet completed the drilling of Well 10 at the Sangu field, there will be no time to complete the drilling of the exploration well at Hatiya by April,’ said an official of Petrobangla.
   The company drilled the appraisal well at south Sangu and found no economically viable gas reserve there, although it was initially estimated that there could be 200 billion cubic feet of gas in the structure.
   The drilling of the wells took more time than expected because of rough sea and the production from Sangu 10 will start in April, he said.
   ‘Cairn has assured us it will drill exploration wells at Hatiya and another prospective structure Magnama in the next dry season, November, 2007-April 2008,’ said the official.
   Sources in Petrobangla, however, apprehend if the company failed to hire a drilling rig in next dry season that would be a blow to gas exploration activities in the prospective structures as the country need immediate discovery of new gas fields as the existing reserve is depleting fast.
   The company initially planned to drill the wells in the 2005-2006 season after it extended its production sharing contract by three years, but could not hire a drilling rig during that period as the demand for the rigs surged in energy sector following the rise of oil prices on the international market.
   Although it could hire a rig in 2006-2007 from Russia, it arrived in January, two months inside the dry season
   ‘Petrobangla’s existing amended production sharing contract with Cairn that will expire in May 2008 will have to be extended again if Cairn fails to drill the wells in the next dry season,’ said a source.
   An official of Petrobangla said Cairn officials apprised them that they would start by April to look for the rig and book it. ‘So the company will be able to book a rig for the next season,’ he said.
   Cairn, meanwhile, in its latest operational update posted on its web site announced the recoverable gas reserve at the Sangu field was 213bcf smaller than the earlier estimate.
   The gas field has a recoverable reserve of around 116bcf at present, it announced based on the latest calculation and drilling of an appraisal well.

Iran aired television footage on Friday of a British sailor ‘confessing’ to trespassing in Iranian waters, further escalating the diplomatic furore over Tehran’s capture of 15 navy personnel.
   Firing off new volleys in the propaganda war, Iran also released a third letter attributed to the sole woman among those seized, saying she had been ‘sacrificed’ to the policies of Britain and the United States.
   Britain, which failed to win strong UN Security Council condemnation of Iran over the detention of its 15 sailors and marines, vowed it would work to further isolate the Islamic republic over the crisis.
   The prime minister, Tony Blair, voiced his ‘disgust’ at the latest broadcast of the captive Britons and the foreign secretary, Margaret Beckett, said she saw no sign that Iran was seeking to solve the crisis.
   But Tehran has so far refused to bow to mounting international pressure to release the 14 men and one woman seized in the northern Gulf a week ago and now being held in a secret location.
   Britain insists they were on a routine anti-smuggling patrol in Iraqi waters but Iran says they were in its territorial waters.
   ‘I would like to apologise for entering your waters without any permission,’ the Royal Navy serviceman identified as Nathan Thomas Sommers said in an interview broadcast on Iran’s Arabic-language Al-Alam television.
   ‘Since we have been arrested in Iran our treatment has been very friendly, they took care of us very well.’
   The interview was interspersed with images of the sailor sitting with two of his
   captured colleagues, including the only woman Faye
   Turney, smiling, and with bowls of fruit and flowers in front of them.
   Turney’s latest letter, released by Iranian authorities in London, calls for British troops to withdraw from Iraq.
   ‘I am writing to you as a British service person who has been sent to Iraq, sacrificed, due to the intervening policies of the Bush and Blair governments,’ she writes in the letter dated Tuesday.

The family members of Jagannath Pandey, one of the two judges of the Jhalakati court who was bombed to death by the Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh on November 14, 2005, expressed their happiness about the execution of the six JMB kingpins.
   ‘I am happy at the execution of the killers,’ said Pallabi, Jagannath’s widow, at her father’s home on the Fisheries Road in Barisal.
   ‘We were certain that the killers and their masterminds would be executed, but we had not thought the execution would be carried out so early and suddenly,’ she said.
   Pallabi Pandey Rita, an officer of the United Commercial Bank Limited, was informed of the news through her uncle, Manik Mukharjee at about 7:30am.
   The family members placed flowers at Jagannath’s portrait at the news. ‘We would never forget him and he is always in our mind,’ Pallabi said. ‘Our son Arghya said they were bad men.’
   She thanked the government and the people for the execution of the killers when the killers of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family members were yet to be punished.
   Jagannath’s father-in-law Mukul Mukharjee, a customs officer, said, ‘We want that no father loses his son, wife her husband, children their father in future through such killing.’
   ‘We would have been more satisfied if the execution had been carried out at the place the judges were killed or the family members of the victims had been allowed to be present near the gallows.’
   Religious rituals of Jagannath were arranged at the cremation ground. The family members hoped the soul of Jagannath would rest in peace as his killers have been punished.’
   Md Safiuddin, the district judge of Barisal, and Asaduzzaman, joint district judge of Faridpur, were present at the cremation ground amid tightened security.

The residents of Baghmara on Friday welcomed the news of execution of six linchpins of the banned Islamist outfits Jagrata Muslim Janata and Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh.
   The Jamaatul Mujahideen operations commander, Siddiqul Islam also known as Bangla Bhai, with several hundreds of his associates on April 1, 2004 launched torture on the innocent people in the name of self-styled cleansing operation against the ultra-left Purba Banglar Communist Party activists.
   They killed Osman Babu, a resident of Baghmara, and announced the emergence of the mission and by May 30, 2004, they killed at least 22 people of Bagmara, Atrai and Raninagar in Naogaon, Naldanga in Natore and Nandigram in Bogra.
   The Jamaatul Mujahideen activists tortured hundreds of people. Many who left their home are yet to return.
   On the weekly market day on Friday, the news of the execution ran fast to the people, who welcomed it.
   Several hundred people injured in the torture gathered at Hamirkutsa Bazar at Baghmara and talked about it.
   Rafiqul Islam, 42, an auto-rickshaw linesman, who became handicapped from torture by Bangla Bhai, said, ‘I along with others in the area had demanded the execution of the culprits at Baghmara in day light. I am the happiest man today. Do I have anything left in future?’
   After the Friday congregation prayers, the people recalled the events of Bangla Bhai torture and vowed not to allow militancy to rise at Baghmara in future.
   Some people also distributed sweetmeats at the news of the execution and many gathered in front of television sets in public places to watch the news bulletins and flashes.
   Mokbul Hossain Mridha, chairman of the Sripur union council, who had barely survived while being tortured on January 22, 2005, standing ear the Baghmara police station, said he was not much happy about the execution as the militant kingpins were not allowed to talk with the media.
   He urged the government to bring to justice the patrons and masterminds of the Jamaatul Mujhahideen.
   Three Jamaatul Mujahideen activists were lynched by villagers when they tried to kill the chairman.
   Ibrahim Hossian, 40, brother of Easin Ali who was killed by JMB men at Kudupara, told New Age, ‘I lost my younger brother, an earning member of my family. The government will never be able to return him to the family.’
   Safinur Nahar, 35, wife Abdul Barek, was tortured by Bangla Bhai men and was forced to leave Bagmara towards the end of 2004.
   Shafinur, who now lives in the Rajshahi city, said, ‘I watched the news on television and I hope the government would take some steps to compensate the victims.’
   Workers Party politburo member Fazley Hossain Badsha told New Age that he had not felt satisfied with the hanging of few JMB activists.
   ‘Just the execution of six has not rooted out militancy. The government should find out the patrons and the source of the JMB funding and bring the patrons to justice. The victims should also be well compensated,’ he said.

Chittagong Hill Tracts leader Jyotirindra Bodhipriya Larma, popularly known as Santu Larma, has reiterated his demand for a separate electoral roll for permanent residents of the hill districts.
   In a short interview with the news agency, the CHT leader on Friday said free and fair elections were not possible in the hill tracts without a separate voters’ roll containing names only of the permanent residents.
   The demand was made during the tenure of the previous governments too.
   According to the peace treaty signed on December 2, 1997 and the CHT Regional Council Act 1998, the election of the regional council will be held on the basis of a list of permanent residents of the hill districts.
   Santu Larma, chairman of the CHT Regional Council and president of Jana Sanghati Samiti, demanded that the government should prepare the list for the CHT and all polls — local and national — should be held in accordance with the list.
   The peace treaty and the regional council act also support the matter, he claimed.
   Larma made the demand at a meeting with the CHT affairs adviser, Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, on Thursday.
   He also demanded proper implementation of the peace accord, saying he would go to the Election Commission with the demand.
   Election commissioner Brigadier General (retd) Sakhawat Hossain told the news agency that the commission would not do anything unconstitutional.
   ‘The matter rests with an elected government which can amend the constitution,’ he said.
   A senior official of the commission said the Regional Council Act did not allow the roll Santu demanded for. Such a list would only be used for the regional council polls, not for national elections, he said.

After a decade of bloody civil war, Nepal’s former rebel Maoists will be given five ministries in a new interim government, officials said Friday.
   ‘Today’s meeting–has informally decided to nominate the Nepali Congress president Girija Prasad Koirala for the post of the prime minister of the new interim government which includes the Communist Party of Nepal,’ Ram Chandra Poudel, general secretary of Nepal’s largest political party, told reporters.
   Today a parliament sitting will formalise the Maoists’ entry into government, Poudel said.
   Nepal’s multi-party government and Maoists signed a landmark peace deal late last year that ended the former rebels’ ‘people’s war,’ which claimed at least 13,000 lives.

RAB officers have seized a huge quantity of rouge VoIP equipment used by mobile phone company AKTEL, officials said on Friday.
   Intelligence officials of the Rapid Action Battalion and the Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission told the news agency that the mobile operator had made more than Tk 11,000 crore a year by using VoIP.
   The RAB intelligence wing deputy director, Major Shamsuzzoha, led the drive. A six-member BTRC team was present.
   The officials estimated the value of the seized equipment at about Tk 2.3 crore.
   Shamsuzzoha told the news agency that RAB conducted the raid from 10:00am on Thursday to midnight on the 14th and 19th floors of Uday Tower in Gulshan. Sixty-three connections have been operated from the seized connections, he said.
   He said they had watched the AKTEL activities since November. ‘We decided to conduct the drive after we get enough proof.’
   Shamsuzzoha showed a copy of the bill that clearly states that the company earned Tk 50 lakh a day from an e-one connection that can run 256 phone links.
   He gave two AKTEL cellphone numbers that were used for illegal VoIP businesses. The numbers are 01800000000 and 01819220007.
   BTRC engineer Anamika Bhakta said the government had been deprived of Tk 180 crore in tax annually due to the VoIP connections of AKTEL.
   RAB intelligence wing’s senior assistant director Al Moyeen said five other companies were involved with AKTEL’s VoIP set-up.
   They are Future Data Network, Brothers International, Obiter Technology, Sun Trading, and Islam and Brothers Communication.
   They will take action against the companies through investigation, Moyeen said.
   AKTEL CEO Ahmed bin Ismail said: ‘I didn’t get the report yet. I’ll comment when I get one.’