Centre brands Jamaat of Bangladesh a terror outfit

NEW DELHI: The Centre on Friday declared Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), the outfit behind the 2014 Burdwan blasts and the 2018 Bodh Gaya blasts, as a terrorist organisation under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
JMB, also known by nomenclatures like Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen India and Jamaatul-Mujahideen Hindustan, will be the 42nd entry in the list of banned terror outfits.
An MHA notification said JMB had committed and promoted acts of terrorism and was engaged in radicalisation and recruitment of youth for terrorist activities in India as well as procurement of explosives and chemicals for assembling IEDs. Stating that investigations had established the involvement of JMB cadres in the Burdwan and Bodh Gaya blasts, it warned of the outfit’s future plans to make permanent bases within 10km along the India-Bangladesh border, in West Bengal, Assam and Tripura. The ministry added that JMB planned to spread its network in south India with an overarching motive to establish a ‘Caliphate’ in the Indian subcontinent.
JMB came into existence in 1998 with the objective of establishing a ‘Caliphate’, the ministry said.