In alarm for India, Bangladesh frees terror group chief

The caretaker government in Bangladesh led by Nobel peace laureate Muhammad Yunus has freed Jashimuddin Rahmani, the chief of the Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), an al-Qaida-inspired terrorist outfit. It is a matter of concern for India as the terrorist group has been trying to establish a jihadi network with the help of sleeper cells.

Several arrests have been made in Assam of terrorists linked to the Ansarullah Bangla Team. Two terrorists linked to ABT were arrested at Guwahati railway station in May this year.

Bahar Mia and Rarely Mia of ABT were arrested in Guwahati Railway Station by an Assam Police team.

ABT is an affiliate of a terror outfit, namely Al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), which is banned in India.

Jashimuddin Rahmani, a convict in the hacking death of a blogger, was released on parole from the Kashimpur High Security Central Jail in Gazipur on Monday, according to a Dhaka Tribune report. Rahmani also faced charges under Bangladesh's anti-terror laws.

He was sentenced to five years in prison for the killing of blogger Rajib Haider on February 15, 2013.

Haider was hacked to death in front of his house in Dhaka. Rahmani was arrested in August 2013 in the case.

Rahmani's ABT was banned in Bangladesh in 2015 and rebranded itself as Ansar al-Islam. That was also banned in 2017.

HOW ANSARULLAH BANGLA TEAM TIED UP WITH LASHKAR-E-TAIBA

Sources told India Today that the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) reportedly partnered with the ABT to carry out terrorist attacks in India's northeastern states.

LeT's collaboration with ABT dates to 2022, when they established a base in Bengal with the aim of launching attacks in India, according to sources.

Intelligence inputs from 2022 also indicate that around 50 to 100 ABT cadres were planning to infiltrate Tripura.

Assam Police has on several occasions arrested ABT terrorists, foiling the terror group's plans to establish a network in the northeastern state.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that ABT jihadis weren't using regular communication tools but highly encrypted devices to avoid getting detected.

POST-SHEIKH HASINA FEARS FOR INDIA

Awami League leader Sheikh Hasina, as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, had always kept India's security concerns in her mind.

Hasina's regime saw a crackdown on anti-India forces in Bangladesh that had found the country a safe haven during the earlier Bangladesh ist Party-Jamaat-e-Islami regime from 2001 to 2006.

As the Sheikh Hasina regime was overthrown after violent nationwide protests, India feared that forces inimical to its interests would now move to the centre from the periphery.

That fear seems to be coming true with the release of ABT chief Jashimuddin Rahmani within weeks of Hasina leaving Bangladesh.

This also brings to question the intent of the leadership in Bangladesh caretaker government.

ANTI-INDIA SENTIMENTS HAVE GROWN IN BANGLADESH

Sheikh Hasina had cracked down on anti-India forces and that got a section of the population in Bangladesh, which is pro-Jamaat and pro-Pakistan, viewed New Delhi's role with suspicion.

A political narrative was built and peddled that Hasina clinged on to power in Bangladesh with the active support of India.

There have been episodes in which anti-Indian sentiments have been exposed.

Right after Hasina's re-election in January, a call for a boycott of Indian goods gained momentum on social media.

The recent devastating floods in Bangladesh had also been blamed on India, which New Delhi has rejected with evidence.

The release of an anti-India terrorist, Jashimuddin Rahmani, is therefore not being seen as an isolated incident but part of a plan. And that's worrying about India.