Overcrowding in jail may have allowed 'Ostad Jewel', 'Bomaru Mamun' to plot bombings: IG prisons
He shared the thought while addressing queries regarding how re-arrested suspect Jewel, alias Ostad, came into contact with Neo-JMB bomb-maker Md Nazmul Hasan Mamun, alias "Bomaru Mamun".
Severe overcrowding and management weaknesses in Bangladesh's prison system may have allowed previously convicted and now suspected militants to form operational relationships behind bars, Inspector General of Prisons Brig Gen Syed Md Motaher Hossain has said.
He shared the thought while addressing queries regarding how re-arrested suspect Jewel, alias Ostad, came into contact with Neo-JMB bomb-maker Md Nazmul Hasan Mamun, alias "Bomaru Mamun".
Responding to questions at a press conference in Dhaka today (18 August), Motaher acknowledged that housing constraints represent a major challenge for jail administration, noting that facilities designed to hold around 2,000 inmates are operating well beyond their intended capacity.
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He explained that in the absence of a specialised commission or dedicated mechanism to keep high-risk inmates entirely separated, the current prison infrastructure makes complete isolation impossible.
As a result, serious offenders end up sharing the same ward or building, creating opportunities to mingle freely -- a vulnerability that the IG prisons admitted was aided by past management weaknesses which the militants may have exploited.
The disclosure comes amid heightened concern over potential connections between escaped prisoners and recent discoveries of bombs and bomb-like objects in and around the capital.
Out of nine listed militants who escaped from various prisons during the unrest following the 2024 July Uprising, six have been re-apprehended, while three remain at large.
Authorities noted that Jewel had previously escaped from Narsingdi District Jail during the uprising after being detained there in connection with a 2023 Anti-Terrorism Unit case. Following a subsequent re-arrest, he was sent to Kashimpur Jail, where he came into direct contact with Mamun before being released on bail in September 2024.
Jewel was detained once again two days ago (16 August) during an operation of the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit in Dhaka's Demra, where law enforcement recovered two bomb-like objects from a house in the West Boxnagar area while investigating a recent attack on police at Jatrabari's Janapath intersection.
One device was defused on site while CTTC unit bomb disposal personnel worked to neutralise the second.
CTTC officials, led by DMP Additional Police Commissioner Mohammad Shamsul Haque, noted that the sophistication of recently recovered explosives indicated a trained group was behind them, leading investigators directly back to Mamun's network.
'Bomaru Mamun' under scanner again
According to intelligence documents, 21-year-old Mamun of Barishal transformed from an HSC student in Uttara into Neo-JMB's primary explosives maker after being radicalised on Facebook in 2016 through conversations he had via an account named "Abu Muslimah", which was operated by Abir alias Muaz.
After meetings in Uttara, Mamun abandoned his education, adopted the organisational code name "Abdullah" on the encrypted messaging platform "Threema", and was connected to Neo-JMB leader "Firewood" alias Musa.
Mamun subsequently underwent indoctrination in Chattogram and received specialised hands-on bomb-making instruction in Sylhet from dismissed navy personnel Mahfuz alias "Sobuj Pakhi", eventually mastering time bombs, remote-controlled devices, and pressure cooker bombs in Chapainawabganj and Jhenaidah before becoming a core explosives trainer for the group.
Mamun was arrested for supplying the explosive device used in the 2017 Hotel Olio International suicide attack in Panthapath, which left one person dead.
Following the 2024 political transition, he also secured bail in September 2024 with the assistance of a vested group and was acquitted of the Panthapath attack charges in January 2025.
Upon his release, Mamun filed a written complaint with the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances claiming to be a victim of state abduction; however, intelligence records indicate he simultaneously rejoined Neo-JMB's military wing, operating through the encrypted platform "Element" via secret channels "At-Tamkin Media", "Fursan Al Tawhid", and "Trash Media".
Addressing the security risks posed by such inter-militant networking during incarceration, IG Prisons Motaher assured that prison authorities are now treating the matter with utmost seriousness.
He stated that high-risk and dangerous prisoners are being placed under strict observation within separate designated zones across every prison in the country, with maximum efforts being deployed to ensure they can no longer come into contact with other inmates.
