Banned militant groups in the country are finding it difficult to recruit members from either the inactive terrorist groups or from among the youth with no prior record of engagement in violence.
A high official of the intelligence agency told the Daily Observer on Wednesday that 82 per cent of the operatives arrested were recruited online.
The militant groups lack leadership or the means to carry out any subversive act, law enforcers have been claiming in the last three years after the Holey Artisan attack. Meanwhile, police and RAB members have arrested on average one militant daily, according to statistics of the agency.
A significant strength of the group is its ability to recruit from a cross- section of the society. The militant groups has been able to recruit from the more educated, urbanised and privileged class of society. One other interesting recruitment pattern is its ability to recruit women and children.
The law enforcers arrested Tanvir's wife Shaila Rahman Sharmin, aged around 30, wife of
Neo-JMB militant group's IT head Tanvir Ahmed, said Dhaka Superintendent of Police Maruf Hossain Sarder.
Tanvir, a student of Jahangimagar University's Institute of Information Technology, was not at home during the operation on Monday evening, he said.
The couple rented a two-storey house at Gokulnagar in the beginning of January, their first home after marriage, the police officer said. The couple came to know each other through Facebook, according to Maruf.
The group emphasizes family-based units to ensure secrecy and avoid detection, according to a Middle East militant research agency.
Momena Shoma is a case in point. She became radicalized in 2013 and in 2018 stabbed an Australian national in Melbourne for which she was given a 42-year jail sentence. Momena's sister, Asmaul Husna, who was also said to be radicalized, stabbed a Bangladeshi police officer in Dhaka, according to the Middle East institute.
The question is if these militant bodies are weak since they have so many members. Law enforcers say that while bodies are weak, many people have become radicalized. They are being arrested when planning an act of subversion.
Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police arrested 315 militants in 2019 belonging to nine radical bodies.
At this time, materials for bomb making, weapons, radical literature, sharp weapons, mobiles and leaflets were captured.
As per police, radical groups operating in Bangladesh at the moment include, Allahr Dal, Harkatul Jihad Bangladesh, New JMB, Old JMB, Ansar A1 Islam, Ansarullah Bangla Team and Hizbut Tahrir.
As per RAB headquarters, till December 21 of 2019, at least 228 militant members were arrested, which is the highest.
RAB battalions carried out 115 anti-militant drives in 2019 and of the arrested, 87 are members of Jamaat-ul Mujahideen (JMB). During 115 drives, five weapons, six magazines, 13 rounds of bullet, 24 cocktails and grenades were recovered from them.
According to CTTC, "The overall picture of 2019 is positive, but militants wanted to carry out attacks here copying the ones in Sri Lanka and New Zealand. They carried out five attacks on the police in Dhaka and we arrested them." But they cannot carry out an attack similar to the Holey Artisan attack in 2016, source added.
