Noorani behind bomb attack on Blitz office in 2006

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Law enforcement agencies have finally arrested Noor Hossain Noorani, a notorious leader of pro-Caliphate Hefazat-e-Islam. He was shown arrested in a case filed over violence during Hefazat’s general strike in Sirajdikhan of Munshiganj on March 28, 2021. Police produced Noorani before the court of Munshiganj Senior Judicial Magistrate Nazneen Rehana around 10am on Friday and sought a seven-day remand to interrogate him. The court later set April 27 for a hearing on the remand plea and sent him to jail.

Noor Hossain Noorani, a central leader of Qawmi madrasa-based pro-Caliphate radical Islamist group Hefazat-e-Islam and president of anti-Ahmadiyya group Khatme Nabuwat Andolon Bangladesh was behind bomb attacks on Blitz office in 2006. This incident although was widely covered in the international media, then BNP-Jamaat coalition government did not take any action against Noorani.

According to reports, in July 2006, Noor Hossain Noorani sent Khatme Nabuwat Andolon Bangladesh terrorists with the instruction of bombing the office and printing press of Blitz in Dhaka’s Purana Paltan area.

Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), in a press release issued on July 7, 2006, condemning the attack said: “The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a bomb attack on the office of the Bangladeshi magazine Weekly Blitz whose editor is on trial for sedition after writing about radical Islam.

“Editor Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury told CPJ that two small devices exploded Wednesday outside the Weekly Blitz office in the capital, Dhaka, causing minor damage. No one was injured. He said two other unexploded bombs were found inside the office. Although the attacks have received no coverage in the English-language press, they were confirmed by Nayeemul Islam Khan, editor of the vernacular daily Amader Shomoy (Our Time) .

“Even though these were small explosions, they must not be ignored. There are so many threats and attacks on journalists in Bangladesh that each one must be taken seriously,” Khan told CPJ”.

Joel Simon, the Executive Director of the international rights group of journalists further said: “We urge the authorities to act quickly to bring those responsible for this attack to justice”.

But, Jamaat-e-Islami and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) were unwilling to bring charges against Noor Hossain Noorani as he was their political affiliate.

It may be mentioned here that, Noor Hossain Noorani continued atrocious attacks on Ahmadiyya mosques and properties in Bangladesh during 2003-2006 under indirect patronization of BNP-Jamaat government. He was also accused of maintaining connections with Pakistani spy agency ISI.

Anti-government individuals continue severe cyberbullying

Prior to the Bangladesh visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, anti-government Islamist and militancy forces built a secret warehouse of flammable chemicals and explosive gel at a house in Dhaka’s Uttara residential area.

A report published in Blitz, quoting a vernacular daily said, an Islamist female name Shahana Rashid aka Sanu was sheltering members of Jamaat-e-Islam, who had turned her Uttara house into a clandestine meeting spot, wherefrom unscrupulous individuals were holding secret meetings and continuing anti-government activities. It was also reported that anti-government elements with the active cooperation of Sanu had built huge stock of highly flammable chemical and explosive gel in the house. The racket reportedly was plotting terrorist attacks during the March 26 Golden Jubilee celebration of Bangladesh’s independence. Despite publication of series of reports, law enforcement agencies did not take any action or raided the property and recover the chemicals and explosive gel.

According to Blitz report dated March 22, 2021, Shahana Rashid has been smuggling-out large amount of cash to Malaysia to fund radical Islamic militancy groups, such as Hizb Ut Tahrir and Islamic State, in addition to sending university expenses to her youngest son who is a student of LimkokWing University in Malaysia, which is accused of breeding Islamic militants, including Islamic State fighters. The report said, Shahana Rashid Sanu proclaims herself as a poet, internationally award-winning artist and philanthropist. But in reality, she is a con-artist, a dubious individual, a Dhaka godmother and a criminal with numerous records of illegal, immoral and criminal actions. There are also allegations of her direct connections with anti-State and anti-government elements as well her involvement in extortion, drug-dealing, and cybercrime. Her sons, Sajal Mahmud Ony and Shamol Mahmood (Anjan) also have criminal records.

Her youngest son Shamol Mahmood (Anjan) is a student of Malaysia’s LimkokWing University and suspected to be connected with Hizbut Tahrir or the Islamic State (ISIS).  

Ever since his return from Malaysia due to the pandemic, Shamol has been regularly meeting with dubious individuals, who are suspected to be members of militancy groups. Sanu sends university expenses of his son through illegal channels, which is a serious crime under Money Laundering Act of Bangladesh.

On March 7th, a mobile court sent by the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) to demolish a number of illegal floors constructed at House 23, Road 1/A, Sector 5, Uttara, Dhaka – the residence of notorious Shahana Rashid Sanu. According to the Notun Shomoy report, the team was compelled to return without taking any action due to undue influence of Sanu and her Jamaat-e-Islami cronies. A source inside Rajuk, seeking anonymity, said: “the authorities of the organization are afraid of demolishing the illegal structures at Sanu’s house because of her Jamaat connection, as well as her family’s terrorist background”.

Neighbors of Sanu alleged she has been using her sons in numerous illegal activities including extortion, abduction, dealing in drugs, etc. The neighbors further said, on 25/05/2012 Sanu’s second son Sajal Mahmud Ony, at gunpoint, abducted an Indian national named Sonjib Saha, took him to the 4th floor of their house, tortured and demanded a ransom. Later, police rescued Sonjib and a case was lodged against Ony.

There is also allegations of anti-government Shahana Rashid Sanu’s “special relations” with some dubious officials of Dhaka Electric Supply Company Limited (DESCO).

According to information, on March 20, 2021, a senior reporter of Blitz sent an email to Jogodish Chandra Mandol, Executive Director (Engineering), DESCO notifying him of an illegal electric connection taken by Shahana Rashid at Dhaka’s Uttara residential area. But to utter surprise, copy of the email was passed to Shahana by some unscrupulous employee of Dhaka Electric Supply Company, which was on March 23, 2021, posted on the Facebook by Shahana’s youngest son Shamol Mahmood, and shared by Shahana on April 5, 2021. As the matter came to the knowledge of this newspaper, authorities of DESCO, including its Managing Director, Engineer Jogodish Chandra Mandol and other senior officials were notified through emails on the same day.

On April 6, 2021, senior reporter of Blitz, Tajul Islam sent message to Engineer Jogodish Chandra Mandol’s WhatsApp number asking how the copy of email sent to him was passed to anti-government elements, which they had posted on Facebook. The message though was read by Engineer Mandol at around 5:57 pm (after more than 4 hours), there was no response in this matter, proving, DESCO authorities were playing hide-and-seek with this serious issue and possibly had not even investigated the case of leaking-out of official documents from the DESCO office.

Additionally, the editor of Blitz also sent email and WhatsApp message on April 9, 2021 to Jogodish Chandra Mandol asking him how the email sent by Blitz to Mandol was passed to Shahana Rashid. The email or WhatsApp message was never replied, proving DESCO authorities were having surprising connections with this antigovernmental individual.

Also read: Cohorts of Militancy and Anti-Bangladesh Forces Should Not Be Spared 

Also read Pakistani ISI Plotted Civil Coup in Bangladesh

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