Threat on Sheikh Hasina's life in Bangladesh

by Srabanti Majumder
December 20, 2008

http://www.weeklyblitz.net/142/threat-on-sheikh-hasinas-life-in-bangladesh

Indian intelligence agencies have warned Bangladesh that former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is also the chief of country's one of the two largest political parties named Bangladesh Awami League faces an assassination threat from a banned Islamist militant group.

Indian intelligence agencies have warned the country that a six-member suicide squad of the banned Harkat-ul-Jehad-al-Islami [Huji] has been trained to assassinate Hasina, leader of Awami League, one of the main political parties of the country.

Sources in the Indian intelligence agencies and inside Bangladesh have told CNN-IBN that the HUJI team was trained for the last two months by an officer of Pakistan's Inter-Service Intelligence [ISI] who operates under the name Ehetesham.

The special training camp was held at Kaligunj in Satkhira and the six men were personally briefed by HUJI chief Imtiaz Quddus at the end of the training.

Hasina recently returned to Bangladesh after a self exile. She is widely expected to win the forthcoming elections in the country after she has formed Grand Alliance with a number of Leftist Political Parties, Islamist Groups such as Khelafat Majlish and ousted former military autocrat Hussain Muhammed Ershad.

Hasina has survived several assassination attempts in the past. In August 2004, she escaped an assassination bid when a string of explosions rocked an opposition rally addressed by her in Dhaka.

In 2000, 80 kg of RDX was found in the Gopalganj district where Hasina's helicopter was set to land for a political rally. She was the Prime Minister of the country at that time.

Although Indian authorities named Huji as the conspirator of the assassination plot of Sheikh Hasina, it is widely known that, in fact, the notorious Islamist group operated under the leadership of jailed Islamist terror kingpin Mufti Abdul Hannan, is Harkatul Mujahedin [HuM].

Bangladesh intelligence agencies are closely monitoring the activities of leaders of Harkatul Jihad [Huji] since the message of threat was communicated by Indian authorities. Meanwhile, it is learnt that Pakistan's ISI are operating in Bangladesh through a number of under cover diplomats in the Pakistan High Commission in Dhaka as well as some other top ranking ISI officials, who are working with several business enterprises including a cell phone company. It is learnt that, in particular, several ISI officials are secretly deployed with this cell phone company and significant amount of earning of the company is being used for operatives of ISI in Bangladesh.

Although Bangladeshi intelligence are taking all out efforts in avoiding any unfortunate episode in country's democratic process, security experts feel that, Sheikh Hasina herself is giving opportunity to a number of potential security threats as various types of electoral symbols are carried within the 'unsafe distance' of the former Prime Minister, which could easily contain liquid explosives. It is also suggested by the security experts that, Sheikh Hasina needs to instruct her party men as well as leaders to avoid carrying cell phones within the unsafe distance area of her, in order to also avoid any unexpected incident.

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