Militants planned bomb attacks on Ekushey functions

Anwar Ali, Dinajpur


Islamic militant group Jamaatul Mujahidin planned to bomb International Mother Language Day programmes in different northern towns, according to a police report.

An open-air concert at Dinajpur Stadium and a mehendi festival at Dinajpur Institute were also their targets, the district police reported to Dhaka yesterday.

The Mujahidin plans were documented in maps and papers seized from their den at the town's Chhoto Gurgola area, the report said.


Seven bombs exploded at the den on February 13 and the activities of the Islamic militants were unearthed.


Swapan Rahman, one of the five organisers of the three-day Rupanjana Mehendi Utsav, said he received anonymous threats over telephone.


"I received at least four such calls and the callers asked me to stop the festival, which they termed anti-Islamic," Swapan said.

Police identified 17 persons who lived in the den. They are Nasim, Ishaq, Ali, Jamil, Sajjad, Imran, Mahmud Sayeed, Nasir, Amjad, Tarik, Yasin, Humayan Kabir, Hasan, Muaz, Murad and Manjur.

Each militant had a code number as revealed in the 'oath-taking letters' of the members.


The letters contained members' names, ages, fathers' names, educational qualifications, marital status and signatures.


The district Awami League Tuesday alleged that the police were trying to hide facts about the blasts.

Gono Forum General Secretary Saifuddin Ahmed Manik claimed at a press conference yesterday morning that police are playing a mysterious role and demanded formation of a judicial probe committee.


The newly formed Anti-fundamentalist Movement brought out a procession yesterday.

The investigating authorities are learnt to be keeping a close watch on the activities of Al-falah Aaam Development Organisation.


The organisation has been targeted because of its links to two people, Hafez Shahidulla and Anwar Sadat, who rented the tin-shed den for the militants.


Local people and police sources said the organisation used to work with Jamaat-e-Islami supporters.


Hafez Shahidullah and his son Anwar often visited the tin-shed and the organisation's office set up in 1989.


It has 54 staffers and about 6,000 members under 317 associations. It is involved in microcredit, water and sanitation, poultry, fisheries and afforestation projects in Ghoraghat, Birol, Hakimpur and Dinajpur Sadar upazilas.


At a press conference yesterday, Momtajul Islam, executive director of Al falah Aaam and a member of the district Jamaat, denied any link to the militants.