With an aim to establish IS Bangladesh : Is this Women Jihadis trained in India ? 

New Delhi, July 09: Bangladesh, currently reeling under heightened terrorist activities, has arrested three women members of the local militant group Jamatul Mujaheed in Bangladesh (JMB) who were suspected to have been trained as ‘suicide bombers’ in India, revealed top NIA sources.

This is the first time in Bangladesh that women suspects – identified as Jannati alias Jemy (18) Sajida Akter (22) and Rozina Begum (30) – are arrested for their involvement in jihadi activities. Although the IS group has claimed responsibility, Bangladesh authorities hold the JMB responsible for the recent Dhaka attack.

The team that raided a house at Jokarchar in Kalihati upazila in Tangail district, 98 km from Dhaka, where the women were residing,seized two machetes, a knife, a mobile phone containing videos of slaughtering techniques and a script of bomb-making technique, Bangladesh police said.

Officer in Charge of Kalihati Police station, Mohammad Akheruzzaman told dna that the matter of the training of the women and their husbands is a part of investigation. The men are absconding and police suspects them to be radically hardened.

The arrests and recoveries bearing signature trademark of JMB, are alarmingly close to the module in West Bengal, where two years ago the National Investigation Agency (NIA) took the lid of camps operating at Burdwan and Murshidabad districts, imparting violent jihadi ideology and firearms, explosive training.

Remarkably, the youth trained here were both men and women. “Our investigations revealed that around 70-80 women were trained at these madarsas. It is possible that the women arrested in Bangladesh were trained in India. We will wait for Bangladesh to share the details,” said a senior NIA officer.

MB is one of the few Islamist militant groups to induct women recruits for combat activities and train wives of its male members in terrorist activities including suicide missions. In Burdwan, the wives of two JMB lesders Gulsona Bibi alias Rajiya Bibi (25) and Alima Bibi, had undergone arms training along with their husbands at Simulia and Mukimnagar madarsas.

In some cases, both husband and wife were trainers. They were mostly training young girls to fire air guns to practise shooting and make explosives, to be sent to their operatives in Bangladesh,” said an officer who was investigating the Burdwan blast case.

For example, SK Rehmatullah alias Sajid, a Bangladesh national and head of the India chapter of JMB, was the lead trainer and had a final say in operational matters, while his wife Fatima was also a trainer. Indian national Mohd Yousef from Kulsona, Mangalkot, Burdwan and his wife Ayesha used to provide arms training at the Simulia madarsa, which had a crash course of 3-4 days in terrorist training, NIA officials said. Another member Dalim was trained at Simulia madarsa with his wife Salima.

Girls in their teens and adolescents were trained at Simulia, and successful recruits were further sent to Mukimnagar madarsa for intense training.

During investigations, the NIA found huge quantity of picric acid (highly explosive), 55 hand grenade shaped IEDs, components for cutting and shaping iron pipes, explosives used in preparation of bombs, grenades, manuals for manufacturing of grenade mortars, RPGs and AK-47.

Banned in 2005, after it launched 500 explosions across the country in 24 hours, the JMB extended its network of activities across the porous borders in India. By 2007, JMB had established networks and base in the border areas of WB and Assam to recruit and impart training in jihadi activities.

The JMB is purported to have a solid presence in all the 64 districts of Bangladesh. In its structure, is a three-tier organisation. Its active full-time member tier is called Ehsar and the second tier with over 1,00,000 part-time activists called Gayeri Ehsar.

The third tier of supporters indirectly cooperate for its activities. The aim of JMB is to replace the democratically elected Bangladesh government with an Islamic State based on Sharia.