Leaders and operatives of four local militant outfits are now operating an online business from behind bars to collect funds, say police investigators.

Convicted leaders of the militant outfits launched the business allegedly with support from a section of jail staffers who earn Tk 100 to Tk 200 for delivery of each product. The profit from the business is used to support the militants' families and bear the costs of their legal battles.

Nahid Tasnim, a leader of banned militant outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), is running the business from Kashimpur jail. Tasnim was made the JMB coordinator in 2010. Four years later, he was arrested by police.

The JMB had set up a robbery wing, led by Al-Amin, a Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (Huji) leader, to collect funds. Al-Amin is now in Kashimpur jail.

Officials of the police's counter terrorism (CT) unit and Detective Branch claimed to have gleaned the information from two "JMB members" who were picked up by the DB from the capital's Tejturibazar area on Monday.

The arrestees are Asifur Rahman, 26, and Piash Sheikh, 28. The DB also recovered a pistol, two bullets and Tk 35,000 from their possession.

The DB police on the same day filed a case against the two with Tejgaon Police Station under the Anti-Terrorism Act.

According to officials, Piash was arrested seven years ago in a case filed with Moahammadpur Police Station over his involvement with militant outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT).

During his stay in jail, Piash became acquainted with JMB leaders. He started working for the militant outfit after coming out of prison in 2019.

Asifur, then a Neo-JMB member, was arrested in 2017. After coming out of jail last year, he also joined JMB and started working for the online business as its operative.

Saiful Islam, deputy commissioner of Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit, said they recently got information that compromising their organisational ideologies, members of some militant outfits are running an online business.

"We are now verifying the information and trying to identify all those involved in the business," he told The Daily Star yesterday.

Investigators said the Neo-JMB is inspired by the ideologies of Islamic State while the Huji and ABT by those of Al-Qaeda.

The two arrestees are now on four-day remand each. According to the First Information Report (FIR) of the case, Asif and Piash are active members of JMB.

"They used to communicate regularly with Abu Saeed, Abdullah Al Tasneem, Al-Amin and Faisal, patrons and top leaders of JMB in Kashimpur High Security Jail, over mobile phones," reads the FIR.

"As per directives of these top militant leaders, JMB members Anwar Ali alias Hridoy, Hafizul Sheikh alias Sakal, Abu Saleh, Sohail and other unidentified militants collected money through committing robberies and carrying out terrorist activities in different parts of the country, including Dhaka," it adds.

A portion of the money was sent to jailed top leaders through some staffers of the prison. The rest was sent to leaders and operatives of different militant outfits across the country and to the families of the jailed militants through Hridoy, Tanjil Babu and Sakal, said the FIR.

DB officials said they found Tk 35,000 in two bundles of Tk 20,000 and Tk 15,000. The words "it is for Nahid Tasnim, Kashimpur" and "it is for Al-Amin, Kashimpur" were on the bundles.

"The money was supposed to be sent to the militant leaders behind bars through jail guards, which is illegal. The two arrestees during interrogation said they earlier had sent money through jail guards," said a top DB official, requesting anonymity.

The militants named their online business "Halal and Fresh".

Through this business, the militant leaders and operatives, now in the high security jail, can buy many items, including honey, dates, clothes or almost anything they want, said CT officials.

The jailed militants also have the opportunity to order products for their families outside the prison and those would be delivered by JMB members, the officials said, adding that payments against the orders are made either directly or through mobile financial services.

Shahadat Hossain Suma, additional deputy commissioner (Tejgaon Division) of DB, told this newspaper that they got information about militant activities being carrying out from jail and they were verifying it.

Regarding use of mobile phones and operating an online business by militants, Brig Gen Md Mominur Rahman Mamun, inspector general of prisons, said they already gave instructions to the authorities concerned to step up monitoring of the staffers' activities and take necessary actions in this regard.

He said jail staffers are not supposed to carry their cellphones inside the prison.

 "We have asked the jail super and the jailer of Kashimpur jail to check who carry cellphones. We are looking for evidence and we will take stern actions if any proof of illegal activities by anyone is found," Mominur told The Daily Star yesterday.