Under the dynamic and focused leadership of Major General Ziaul Ahsan, with the ‘Nation Comes First’ slogan, the National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre (NTMC) has been playing an important role by dedicatedly providing interception support to law enforcement agencies in Bangladesh through tireless round-the-clock duties. This organization has been playing a vital role in safeguarding national security since its inception.
In view of the massive increase in IT-related crimes due to the free flow of information worldwide, with the approval of Sheikh Hasina, the Honorable Prime Minister of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, the NMC was renamed as “National Telecommunication Monitoring Center (NTMC)” on January 31, 2013. The agency started functioning under the Ministry of Home Affairs as an independent organization from February 2014.
Construction of NTMC’s own building started on January 08, 2015, on a designated 0.94-acre area, which is adjacent to Prime Minister’s office, Tran Bhandar, Tejgaon Airport. On January 1, 2017, through an informal ceremony, NTMC headquarters shifted from the DGFI building to the newly constructed premises.
Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, the honorable minister of Home Affairs inaugurated the main office building of NTMC. Adviser on Security and Defense to the Prime Minister, Major General Tarique Ahmed Siddique, RCDS, PSC (Retd) was present as the special guest at the inauguration ceremony.
The ceremony was also attended by then Minister of State for Posts and Telecommunication Tarana Halim, secretaries of all concerned ministries, head of various law enforcement agencies and other dignitaries.
Despite various limitations due to the rapid advancement of global technology, NTMC is doing a strong and unprecedented job in protecting the law and order situation of the country through continuous 24/7 monitoring of all the media providing telecommunication services through the power of Article 97-A of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Act 2006 (Amended) through the legal framework of the state.
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It is to be noted that NTMC has always contributed to meeting the difficult situation of the past and provide assistance in any operational work by overcoming all constraints due to requisite manpower, equipment limitations, optimal utilization of limited resources, timely guidance and able leadership from the highest level of government.
Each of the activities of NTMC involves one or more law enforcement agencies, intelligence agencies and investigative agencies of the country. As a very important institution of the country, NTMC has already been able to create a strong position with the government and all concerned agencies about its capabilities and requirements.
NTMC is working tirelessly to establish a central platform with information technology at the national level and to speed up the operational activities of all types of communication media.
All law enforcement and intelligence agencies are already getting modern monitoring facilities related to Call Content, Voice, Data through the monitoring system established since the establishment of NTMC for the purpose of criminal identification and communication media monitoring.
30 agencies including law enforcement agencies and investigative agencies are directly attached to NTMC. who is using the facilities of various technologies installed in NTMC? Already some important civic databases are connected through API. This integrated “datahub” of NTMC is playing an effective role in correlating any information collected by coordinating with the described “Telecommunications Datahub” and “National Datahub” with the Application Programming Interface (API) connection. As a result, law enforcement agencies, investigation, and intelligence agencies are able to verify the citizens’ biometrics and other information from this system.
Meanwhile, the intelligence platform of NTMC is connected with the voice and data of all mobile operators, the election commission database, passport and immigration database, birth registration database, Bangladesh Road Transport Authority database, RAB database (criminal database, jail inmate database), and Ministry of Religion. work done Through which law enforcement, intelligence agencies, investigative agencies, and Hajj registration authorities are able to complete the verification and selection of the information required for their activities.
By collecting information from all types of social and web media, law enforcement and intelligence agencies are playing an effective role in identifying the real culprits spreading rumors on social media and bringing them under the law using NTMC’s technology. Moreover, nowadays, a class of unscrupulous individuals has been publishing various anti-government information through the free and misuse of the Internet: besides trying to spread it everywhere, they are also committing various criminal activities. Necessary activities are taken by NTMC to monitor the information published on the Internet.
In addition, NTMC has a self-contained Research and Development wing with archives to enhance the organization’s capabilities in keeping with the ever-changing information technology, which is working tirelessly to identify new and emerging risks.
Due to the advancement of information technology and the wide spread of the Internet, law enforcement and intelligence agencies face various problems in investigating Internet-based criminal activities. Considering the said problem, the current Director General Major General Ziaul Ahsan, SBP, BPM (Bar), and PPM (Bar) played a special role in increasing the capacity of NTMC in various fields through the purchase of modern technology equipment. He has been serving as Director since March 6, 2017, on the instructions of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Ziaul Ahsan was promoted from Brigadier General to Major General in July. On July 21, a letter was sent to the Ministry of Public Administration to appoint Ziaul Ahsan as Director General of NTMC through a notification.
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Later, on 05 September 2022, Major General Ziaul Ahsan, SBP, BPM (Bar), PPM (Bar) was appointed as the Director General of NTMC by an order of the Mission-1 Division of the Ministry of Public Administration. This is the first time that the post of Director General of the National Telecommunication Monitoring Center or NTMC has been created.
The success of all the law enforcement forces of the country is related to the achievement of the capability of this important organization in the world of technology to achieve technological excellence for the purpose of counter-terrorism, and therefore the motto of ‘Nation Comes First’ or ‘Country Above All’ is inspired by the current Director General Major General Ziaul Ahsan. Under the leadership, NTMC is continuously working to protect the security of the country, which will be able to contribute more successfully in the future as well as in the present in order to ensure the security of the country and the people.
Major General Ziaul Ahsan presented the National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre (NTMC) as a leading role in the security of the country and its people. Dedication, concentration, honesty, courage and hard work are the key ingredients of his career success. An insightful high-ranking army officer also has a keen eye for punctuality.
Major General Ziaul Ahsan had to go through various ups and downs. He has been the target of anti-independence evil forces. There have been many obstacles and setbacks. But he did not stay away from his work. Instead, he kept himself busy with new initiatives. Enriched NTMC, increased capacity. The spirit of the liberation war, progress, secularism, and modern-advanced thought have been combined with unstoppable speed.
