“Their aim was to use violence against the Bangladesh government back home and bring it under the self-declared caliphate of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).”
“Four plead guilty to financing terrorism,” by Ronald Loh, The New Paper, June 1, 2016:
They were workers by day, but by night, they were planning to kill their fellow countrymen.
They even had specific job responsibilities, such as handling finances, media, security and legal matters.
Their aim was to use violence against the Bangladesh government back home and bring it under the self-declared caliphate of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
They might have succeeded if not for an anonymous tip-off to the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) that scuppered their plans.
For four months, eight radicalised Bangladeshi nationals here got together over a terror plot.
The authorities swooped and arrested them under the Internal Security Act.
Yesterday, four of them pleaded guilty to financing terrorism here.
Leader Rahman Mizanur, 31, along with Miah Rubel, 26, Md Jabath Kysar Haje Norul Islam Sowdagar, 31, and Sohel Hawlader Ismail Hawlader, 29, were charged last Friday.
They were accused of providing or collecting money to fund terrorist acts in Bangladesh.
Two others – Mamun Leakot Ali, 29, and Zzaman Daulat, 34 – have claimed trial.
Two more men, Sohag Ibrahim, 27, and Islam Shariful, 27, remain in detention.
Court papers said Rahman had developed a fascination for ISIS in 2014.
He became radicalised in April last year after meeting a Mr Jahangir Alam, who gave him ISIS-related documents, in Bangladesh.
He also tried to join ISIS on three occasions, but failed because he could not get a visa to travel to Turkey and Algeria.
Rahman arrived in Singapore on Dec 3 to work as a draftsman in a construction firm, having worked here on and off since 2007.
In January, he met Miah, Zzaman and Sohag at a Sembawang HDB void deck and convinced them to join and support ISIS.
He also suggested forming their own group that would operate in Bangladesh as part of ISIS.
The four men swore they would follow Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS, until their death….