Allah’r Sarkar: The threat must be removed before too late

They do not pray in the mosque behind an Imam. They even disagree with the name of the last prophet associated in the Kalema.

Still, they wish to establish the "rule of Allah" as suggested in the name of the group they formed.

Recently, the jihadi outfit has emerged to seek the attention of the law enforcers and the media with an unusual Bengali name, instead of the Arabic: Allah'r Sarkar.

In August, eight of their members were arrested by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) from the capital. During interrogation, they provided astounding information about their plan to organise their activities countrywide.

They told RAB officials that the goal of the Allah'r Sarkar is to impose an Islamic government based on the rules and regulation of the religion.

From Allah'r Dal to Allah'r Sarkar

Established in 1995, the militant group named Allah'r Dal was banned and blacklisted by the home ministry in 2009. Later, the group changed the name to Allah'r Sarkar in 2014 for a technical reason.

The founder of the group is Abdul Motin Mehdi, who is now in jail facing a death sentence.

He was found involved with Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh's (JMB) series bomb blast across the country on August 17, 2005.

Later in September of the following year, he got arrested by RAB and imprisoned in Tangail jail.

But before his arrest, he managed to create an organisational structure for the group. The structure is similar to that of the government administration of the country.

According to RAB, their idea is to establish leadership in the village, union, upazila, district, division and central levels.

The heads of the divisions are called Nayak. At the central level, various important positions are termed as captain, deputy captain, additional captain, joint captain.

The highest rank of the organisation is Taroka.

There are allegations that Mehdi Motin is still operating the militant group secretly from jail.

The arrested members told RAB officials that they were planning to get their leader out of jail.

Eye on retired law enforcers

Allah'r Sarkar has a self-sufficient funding system, according to the statements provided by the detained members.

"They got their own funding system. All the members of that group have to pay 2-5 percent of their monthly income to their internal fund," said Lt Col Emranul Hasan, director of RAB's Legal and Media Wing.

To avoid the hassle of arms training, they even planned to recruit retired members of various elite forces in the past.

According to the RAB sources, they were also trying to recruit former members of the dismantled force Bangladesh Rifles who were suspended after Pilkhana incident.

A different interpretation of Islam

During the interrogation of detained Allah'r Sarkar members, RAB officials found that the group has a different interpretation of Islam concerning skipping prayers and other usual practices.

According to a RAB media briefing, they do not pray in the mosque behind an Imam. They even disagree with the name of the last prophet associated in the Kalema. They consider their jailed leader Motin Mehdi to be a special envoy of Allah.

"They are against our democratic system. We feel that they need to be stopped before it is too late. If we cannot stop them now, conflict is inevitable. More drives are coming against its members," said Lt Col Mozammel Haque, additional deputy inspector general of RAB.

These groups are usually small in size but they are very active. So, there is no chance to take them lightly

"These groups are usually small in size but they are very active. So, there is no chance to take them lightly. Law enforcers must be alert about these groups to stop them re-organising," said Maj Gen (retd) Muniruzzaman, former military advisor to the president.

"They usually recruit members from among general people, so awareness is a must. They have destructive powers. They cannot be allowed to roam free," he added.