Dhaka: A Bangladesh court freed Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) member and former minister Abdus Salam Pintu from jail. Pintu is known for funding Pakistani terrorist groups like Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI). He was accused of plotting a grenade attack against then-Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2004.
He was released after Bangladesh’s top court scrapped the verdict of the lower court in the two cases related to a grenade attack on an Awami League rally in Dhaka on August 21, 2004, acquitting all convicts. Among those who have been acquitted include BNP acting chairperson Tarique Rahman.
Pintu financed terrorist recruitment groups in Pakistan
Pintu also reportedly financed recruitment and training programs in camps in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK). He used to radicalise the young students in Madrassa with the help of HuJI, a terror group that has been banned in India, Bangladesh, New Zealand, the UK, Israel, and the US. He also played an important role in gathering weapons to attack India. According to Bangladeshi news outlet ‘The Daily Star’, Pintu was also HuJi wanted to kill Sheikh Hasina as her government stood against the organisation
Pintu also served as the deputy minister for information, industries, and education under former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia when BNP was in power. It may be noted that Huji is a designated terrorist organization. It is known to have connections with other terror groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). It also received support from Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
Several Islamists with hardline anti-India stances have been released in recent times
His release came following the release of Lutfozzaman Babar. In recent times, after the formation of an interim government under Muhammad Yunus, several Islamists with hardline anti-India stances were released from jails. Days after Sheikh Hasina resigned and escaped the country, Jashimuddin Rahmani, the chief of the Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), an al-Qaida-affiliated terrorist group, was also freed from jail.
