A fugitive sacked military officer from Bangladesh, who is on Interpol’s Red Notice has been running illegal activities such as dealing in drugs and counterfeit Indian currency as well as funding radical Islamic militancy groups inside India for years.
According to media reports, in April 2021, Indian Navy seized drugs worth almost half-a-billion dollar from a Pakistani fishing boat in the Arabian sea. The fishing boat was coming from Pakistan’s Makran coastal region and it was later revealed that the sales proceeds of the drugs was supposed to be used in financing terrorist activities in India, Maldives and Sri Lanka. During the same month, Indian law enforcement agencies apprehended another Pakistani boat in the Arabian Sea and confiscated 30 kilograms of heroin.
It may be mentioned here that the South Asian region experiencing geopolitical turmoil has also been hit by smuggling of narcotics. For decades, drug monies have been used in fueling Islamist extremism and jihad. While Pakistan is one of the major drug trafficking nations in South Asia, its well-worn tactics is to tag disproportionate blame for drug trafficking on Afghanistan, which is mainly involved in production of heroin. Afghan cocaine, heroin and captagon producers are selling these items to a number of buyers, including Lebanese Hezbollah and notorious terror don Dawood Ibrahim’s D Company. Through Hezbollah and D Company, Afghan drugs are also reaching the hands of drug cartels in Colombia, Mexico, Panama, Sicily and other nations such as Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and the Middle East. For the past several years, Iranian mullah regime has also been funding drug trade with the evil agenda of generating fund for its global terrorist plots.
In the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte and Sri Lankan government under former President Maithripala Sirisena have conducted massive crackdown on drug dealers and smugglers, which revealed in graphic detail, Pakistan’s and Lebanese Hezbollah’s connections in these deadly trades of hundreds of billions of dollars.
Sri Lanka is known to be in the clutches of Pakistan drugs traffickers and evidently, the Sri Lanka Navy has reported them to the media. According to experts, Sri Lanka serves as a transshipment hub for heroin and cocaine trafficked into countries mainly within the South Asian region, while Lebanon is a key hub of transportation of drugs to various Western countries through transit in countries in the Middle East, Asia as well as South America and former Soviet republics.
In 2015, a Sri Lankan local drug dealer named Samantha Kumara alias Wele Suda who was arrested and later it was revealed that he was having direct links with Pakistani drug dealers including Dawood Ibrahim’s network.
Also Mohammed Siddik, a former resident of Dematagoda, who was suspected operating a major heroin smuggling network between Sri Lanka and Pakistan, He had fled to Pakistan several years back, along with Wele Suda and was arrested finally after an Interpol Red Notice was issued for his arrest in 2015.
In an interview to an English newspaper in Sri Lanka in November 2020, , Afghanistan’s Ambassador to Sri Lanka M. Ashraf Haidari noted that Taliban-produced drugs entering Sri Lanka through Pakistan and even the Sri Lanka Navy knows well that much of the narcotics originates from Pakistan where drug kingpins work hand in hand with the Taliban, who facilitate the cultivation and production of drugs in Afghanistan.
He also cited that there are over a dozen terrorist groups, including Al Qaeda and ISIS (Islamic State), operating under the Taliban umbrella with safe havens in our immediate neighborhood. Ambassador Haidari stressed that the terrorist attacks carried out daily by these groups over the past 19 years have cost Afghanistan in direct and indirect ways; while undermining regional stability and international security.
The Pakistan Embassy reported that 41 prisoners in Sri Lanka were extradited to Pakistan in 2020 under the 2004 Pact between the two countries. The entire group of 41 were convicted for drug trafficking and there are several more of them in police custody in Sri Lanka facing trial and not convicted as yet.
According to the Sri Lanka Navy, between 2016 and 2020 nearly six teams of Pakistanis and Iranians were arrested in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) en route the Arabian Sea most of the time.
On March 31 in 2016 111 kilograms of heroin was nabbed in a flagless big boat. The boat suspected to be of Pakistan origin and 10 Iranians and one Pakistani were arrested. Though it was considered a stateless boat, the big boat was of the traditional boats that sail in the Arabian sea. They were arrested in the South of Sri Lanka by the Navy.
Again, in 2019 March 24, another set of 9 Iranians were arrested south-west of Sri Lanka smuggling 107 kilograms of heroin bearing no flag but suspected to have linked with the Pakistanis drug traffickers.
On July 10, 2019, 70 kilograms of heroin was confiscated with Iranians on a flagless boat. The trend has been that the Iranians were used in the smuggling of drugs by the Pakistani drug cartels, including Dawood Ibrahim’s.
On December 18, 2019, a Pakistani national was sentenced to life in prison by Colombo High Court Judge Gihan Kulatunga after he was convicted for trafficking and possessing heroin. He was arrested in Wellawatte and had more than 10 kilograms of heroin in his possession.
On February 25, 2020, 219 kilograms of heroin were seized along with two Iranians and four Pakistanis taken into custody while sailing in the south-west of Sri Lanka.
In March 2020, another huge haul of 614 kilograms of heroin was nabbed and nine Pakistanis were arrested.
According to another report, on April 10, 2020, five Iranian, one Pakistani and one Myanmar nationals were arrested with 279 kilograms of heroin.
Maritime experts said, most of the country of origin of these drug consignments could not be traced due to use of flagless vessels by the smugglers, while it is known to all that in most cases, Pakistani, Iranian and Afghan nationals are behind such activities.
The Sri Lanka Navy point out that the drug smugglers often sail closer to countries in South Asia and drop some parcels to small fishing boats and which is then distributed in many areas in the country.
Reiterating the fact Pakistan, in particular its espionage agency Inter Service Intelligence (ISI) and Dawood Ibrahim are behind most of the drug trafficking, experts said, there should be joint efforts by Sri Lanka and India in particular in combating the ongoing huge drug trafficking activities.
Narco cash goes towards funding terrorist activities
In most of the cases of drug trafficking in the South Asian region and beyond, notorious mafia don Dawood Ibrahim and his D Company are directly involved, while this racket actively collaborates with Pakistani espionage agency ISI. According to media reports, several years ago, at the instructions of Pakistani ISI, Dawood Ibrahim formed a nexus with an individual named Shahid Uddin Khan who is a fugitive convict and sacked officer of Bangladesh Army for running drug trade as well as dealing in counterfeit Indian currency notes. Shahid Uddin Khan has been convicted by Bangladeshi courts on allegations of terror financing and dealing in arms, counterfeit currency and IED making materials. He also is accused of funding Islamic State (ISIS).
Since 2009, Shahid Uddin Khan’s family has been living in the United Kingdom.
Shahid Uddin Khan (Army No: BA002428, Course: 8-BMA, Commission Date: 10-06-1983) and his wife and daughters entered Britain with millions of dirty cash.
According to credible sources, in 2009, Shahid Uddin Khan invested millions of pounds in the United Kingdom in exchange of obtaining immigrant status under Visa Tier 1, vide VAF No. 511702. The family had laundered an unknown amount of money and brought that into the United Kingdom via United Arab Emirates and few more countries, while Shahid Uddin Khan had invested over 18 million pounds for buying citizenship under Britain’s scandalous ‘Golden Visa’ scheme.
According to immigration records, Shahid Uddin Khan and his family members are regularly visiting the United Arab Emirates. British intelligence agencies never wanted to know the reason behind this family’s visit to the UAE.
Media reports said, four months before the Sri Lanka attacks, ISIS funder Shahid Uddin Khan had sent an amount equivalent to ninety-two thousand dollars. This amount went from Dubai to Colombo. In other words, Khans funded the Sri Lanka jihadists – on behalf of ISIS.
Documents available with various intelligence agencies show, Shahid Uddin Khan hails from a radical Muslim family in Bangladesh while his wife Farjana Anjum too hails from similar family background. This couple’s daughters though are living and being educated in Britain are notoriously radicalized and are working as lone wolves. They have been targeting various individuals and trying to convert them into Islam. One of Shahid Uddin Khan’s daughters namely Parisa Pinaz Khan (Bangladeshi passport number AF6723557) maintain liaison with Pakistani ISI and terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba.
According to credible sources, in 2009, Shahid Uddin Khan invested millions of pounds in the United Kingdom in exchange of obtaining immigrant status under Visa Tier 1, vide VAF No. 511702. The family had laundered an unknown amount of money and brought that into the United Kingdom via United Arab Emirates and few more countries, while Shahid Uddin Khan had invested over 18 million pounds for buying citizenship under Britain’s scandalous ‘Golden Visa’ scheme.
Following extensive media reports, Indian intelligence agencies started investigation into the connections between Dawood Ibrahim and Shahid Uddin Khan.
The report said:
Indian intelligence agencies are probing a deep-rooted nexus involving underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and a London-based former Colonel of the Bangladesh army. The agencies suspect that the Bangladeshi army officer, allegedly involved in gun running, has links with Dawood Ibrahim’s underworld activities operating from India’s eastern borders.
What prompted the intelligence agencies to probe the nexus between Dawood and the Bangladeshi army officer was a report published in a leading British daily recently. On May 25, British newspaper The Sunday Times, in an exclusive report, revealed that a former Colonel Md Shahid Uddin Khan had been charged with funding terror groups, arms dealing and money laundering offences in Bangladesh. According to the British newspaper, the former Colonel has political links in Britain and had funded an MP.
Sources said that the former Bangladeshi Colonel migrated to London in 2009 under mysterious circumstances. He is said to have had business operations in Dubai as well as in Britain. As per the latest dossier on the Dawood Ibrahim gang, the D company is involved in smuggling Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) and contraband narcotics. The illegal activities are being operated from Nepal and Bangladesh.
Shahid Uddin Khan, a notorious criminal, under the pretext of freedom of expression, along with a vicious circle has been becoming increasingly aggressive in spreading disinformation about Bangladesh. But everyone should remember – no one has the rights to spreading disinformation against any individual, organization or a nation. Recently the European Union has decided to incorporate a common set of rules across the 27-country bloc regulating online platforms and services, while providing individuals the rights and protections. With a raft of last-minute amendments, the EU’s legislative arm has approved the Digital Services Act that requires online companies to police content on platforms and sets new advertising restrictions, proposed in 2021.
“Online platforms have become increasingly important in our daily life, bringing new opportunities, but also new risks. It is our duty to make sure that what is illegal offline is illegal online,” said Danish MEP, Christel Schaldemose, who is leading the Parliament’s negotiating team.
The measures are set to address the problem of illegal content, ensure digital platforms are held accountable for their algorithms and improve content moderation across platforms.
Under the new regulations, online platforms, such as social media and marketplaces, will be subject to a “notice and action” mechanism for the removal of illegal products, services or content online.
Stronger safeguards are planned so that notices are processed in a non-arbitrary and non-discriminatory manner and with respect for fundamental rights, including the freedom of expression.
In addition, what’s defined as Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) will be subject to specific obligations because of the particular risks they pose regarding the dissemination of both illegal and harmful content.
These should limit the spread of harmful content (which might not be illegal) and the spread of disinformation through mandatory risk assessments, risk mitigation measures, independent audits and the transparency of so-called “recommender systems” (algorithms that determine what users see).
There will also be a compensation provision for users when platforms don’t adhere to their due diligence obligations, and using data related to children for targeting will be prohibited.
For years, we are witnessing the alarming rise in spreading disinformation against Bangladesh both on social media as well as video-sharing sites such as YouTube. Several individuals as well as a vicious circle of culprits are engaged in publishing contents with false information as well as contents clearly giving instigation to staging armed revolt against the ruling Awami League government. At the same time, several fugitive criminals are engaged in publishing highly derogatory contents targeting several important persons, including the Prime Minister.
According to information, a sacked military officer, who has been sacked on charges of massive corruption and later has also been accused of funding terrorist groups, including Islamic State has been running nefarious propaganda against Bangladesh through social media and video-sharing sites. This individual faces series of criminal charges as well as convictions and is in Interpol’s Red Notice. Back in 2009, this sacked military officer had smuggled out millions of dollars from Bangladesh and invested at least US$ 25 million in the United Kingdom in exchange for buying UK citizenship under so-called Golden Visa program. He is also accused of funding Easter Sunday jihadist attacks in Sri Lanka.
According to 2019 news report by an Indian news agency IANS, intelligence agencies in that country currently are probing a deep-rooted nexus involving underworld mafia don and notorious terrorist Dawood Ibrahim and a London-based fugitive sacked officer of Bangladesh Army named Md. Shahid Uddin Khan.
The news agency claimed that Indian intelligence agencies suspect that Md. Shahid Uddin Khan, who is involved in gun running, trafficking in narcotics and money laundering has links with Dawood Ibrahim’s underworld activities operating from India’s northeastern borders.
What prompted the intelligence agencies to probe the nexus between Dawood and the Bangladeshi army officer was reports published in Blitz and leading British newspaper, The Sunday Times.
On May 25, British newspaper The Sunday Times, in an exclusive report, revealed that a former Colonel Md Shahid Uddin Khan had been charged with funding terror groups, arms dealing and money laundering offenses in Bangladesh. According to the British newspaper, the former Colonel has political links in Britain and had funded Stephen Hammonds, a Tory Party MP.
Sources told IANS that the sacked Bangladeshi Colonel Md. Shahid Uddin Khan migrated to London in 2009 under mysterious circumstances along with his wife Farjana Anjum and daughters named Shehtaz Munasi Khan, Parisa Pinaz Khan and Zumana Fiza Khan. Members of this family are having business operations in Dubai as well as in Britain. As per the latest dossier on the Dawood Ibrahim gang, the D company is involved in smuggling counterfeit Indian Currency Notes (FICN) and contraband narcotics. The illegal activities are being operated from Nepal and Bangladesh.
During recent years the role of a Pakistan Embassy official in Nepal had come to light in connection with a huge seizure of FICN at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu. Dawood Ibrahim’s associate Yunus Ansari and three Pakistani nationals were arrested by the Nepal Police in the FICN racket busted on a tip-off by Indian agencies.
Sources said that Indian intelligence agencies were probing the nexus between D company and the sacked Bangladeshi sacked Colonel relating to fake currency and arms dealing.
One of the houses of the sacked Bangladeshi Colonel in Dhaka was raided in January 2019 by the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit of the Bangladesh police. Incriminating documents have been found from ex-Colonel’s place in the raids.
Indian news agency IANS made several attempts to approach Md Shahid Uddin in London but could not make contact with him.
It may be mentioned here that, ever since Blitz started exposing the notorious activities of Md. Shahid Uddin Khan and his family, they are trying to hide from the media, while few of their hired writers are engaged in spreading false stories against Bangladesh with the ulterior agenda of defaming the country’s image.
On the other hand, British journalist Tom Harper, the Home Affairs correspondent for The Sunday Times, who exposed the role of the colonel in his exclusive story, has said in one of his tweets that former Colonel (Md Shahid Uddin) Khan had bought two houses with alleged laundered money, was charged after counter-terror police found arms, fake currency and Jihadist material from his home in Bangladesh.
Md. Shahid Uddin Khan started dealing in counterfeit Indian currency since 2008. He has been using cross-border smuggling racket in shipping consignments of counterfeit currency into India. According to information, in Pakistan, counterfeit Indian currency is printed in a secret printing press inside mountainous area Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Another source said Indian counterfeit currency is printed by the Pakistani security printing press under the direct supervision of its spy agency Inter Service Intelligence (ISI). Each time, they print at least 1-2 billion pieces of counterfeit bills of 500 and 1000 denomination. Once printed, these consignments are shipped into Nepal and Bangladesh in particular as well as Jammu and Kashmir area mostly through baggage of passengers, while in the recent years, Pakistani ISI carries the consignment into deep sea area within Bangladesh-India maritime area. Then these consignments are unloaded onto fishing boats, which carry it to the seashores.
On arrival of the consignments, these were handed over to representatives Md. Shahid Uddin Khan by a Bangladeshi named Humayun, while in some cases, few Pakistani nationals had also undertaken this handling over tasks.
On receipt of the consignments, Khan was sending it to his contacts within the cross-border smuggling racket. In most cases, these consignments were carried in Shahid Uddin Khan’s Toyota Prado SUV (black color). Each time he was sending counterfeit currency worth in between 100-300 million rupees.
It is also learnt that Shahid Uddin Khan was getting 35 percent commission on the gross amount of sale proceeds.
According to credible sources, Md. Shahid Uddin Khan had joined hands with notorious terrorist Dawood Ibrahim’s infamous D-Company in 2009 and since then he also has been actively collaborating in transnational money laundering, arms, and narcotics trafficking.
British authorities should immediately take necessary steps in extraditing Shahid Uddin Khan for his direct involvement in numerous forms of criminal activities.
