Thursday, February 24 2005 10:05 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Dhaka: Bangladesh yesterday (Feb 23, 2005) banned two Islamic groups and arrested the leader of one of them after they were found to be linked with different criminal activities, including "murder, dacoity, bombing and threats" in the country.

The Government has decided to ban "all activities" of the Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB) and Jamaatul Mujahedin (JM), a Home Ministry statement said.

The groups, which were exploiting religious sentiments to achieve their goals, were linked to different criminal activities including "murder, dacoity, bombing and threats" in different parts of Bangladesh, it said.

The leader of the JM, Asadullah al Galib, a teacher at the Rajshahi University, has been arrested and police have been asked to gear up efforts to arrest JMJB leader Siddiqul Islam alias "Bangla Bhai."

A number of people arrested over the past several days for their suspected links with criminal activities named the two as their leaders, the statement said.

These groups were exploiting the religious sentiments of some youths to achieve their goals, according to confessional statements of those arrested.