Damsana Ranadhiran
Fugitive terror-funder Shahid Uddin Khan has been on run for years escaping numerous criminal charges and convictions. He is wanted by Interpol for crimes including funding jihadi groups such as Daesh or Islamic State (ISIS), while he also is accused of laundering millions of dollars, dealing in weapons and explosives, and counterfeit Indian currency and narcotic. According to international media reports, Khan is an accomplice of dangerous terrorist Dawood Ibrahim and member of his D Company gang. Despite his involvement in serious crimes, Shahid Uddin Khan is being sheltered by the British authorities as he invested at least $18 million under so-called Golden Visa project.
According to British newspaper The Sunday Times, since 2010, terrorist Shahid Uddin Khan has been maintaining connections with British politician and currently Torey Party’s MP Stephen William Hammond. According to media reports, Shahid Uddin Khan has also business relations with British Conservative Party politician Stephen William Hammond, who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wimbledon since 2005.
On 4 September 2012, Hammond was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport, with responsibility for buses, rail and shipping. He lost his ministerial post in the reshuffle on July 15, 2014 and was succeeded by Claire Perry. He became Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party for London on 20 July 2017 and was sacked the following December 16 after participating in a Brexit rebellion against the government of Theresa May three days earlier.
Hammond was however appointed to be a Minister of State at the Department of Health and Social Care on November 16, 2018, following the promotion of Stephen Barclay to the position of Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union. On September 3, 2019, he had the whip removed after voting for a bill ruling out leaving the European Union without a deal. However, on October 29 he was one of ten Conservative MPs to have the whip restored.
International media reports said, with the evil agenda of spreading terrorist activities throughout Bangladesh, fugitive terrorist Shahid Uddin Khan, who is on Interpol’s RED NOTICE and facing convictions in a number of cases, including terror financing, money laundering, dealing in weapons and counterfeit currency has been forming one-after-another sleeper cells in the country. While for the last few days, Shahid Uddin Khan has been posting videos of illegal rallies organized by the members of his sleeper cells in different parts of Bangladesh, law enforcement agencies are yet to nab any of these culprits.
According to information, the first illegal rally of the members of terror sleeper cell took place in Munshiganj districts on October 1, 2021. It was followed by similar rally in Netrokona district on October 4, 2021, in Kishoreganj district on October 8, 2021 in Barisal district on October 10, 2021 and Gazipur district on October 11, 2021.
These illegal and anti-state rallies of the terrorist cells of Shahid Uddin Khan are being coordinated by Md Obaid Ullah Shanto,(Facebook Link) former student of Bangladesh Survey Institute, Comilla and leader of greater Comilla south upazilla’s Chhatra Dal, student wing of pro-Caliphate Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). Other cohorts of Shahid Uddin Khan are: Shab Uddin,(Facebook Link) Juyel Miah,(Facebook Link) Salman Chy Faisal (Facebook Link) (works in PHP Group of Industries), Md Shahjalal Khan,(Facebook Link) Moazzam Hossain, (Facebook Link) HM Mahmud Hasan, (Facebook Link) Md. Nisha Hasan Sumon (Facebook Link) (hails from Bogra district and works at Meghna Electronics Ltd), EM Rasel Hossain, (Facebook Link) Al Imran, (Facebook Link) Mokhlesur Rahman (Facebook Link) (works as Quality Controller at Mondol Group), Ibrahim Khalil (Facebook Link) (works at Transcom Beverage Limited) and many others.
Sitting in London, Shahid Uddin Khan has also been inciting communal riot in Bangladesh and has been offering cash reward for attack and destruction of Hindu temples as well as Hindu properties in the country. He may have hands behind the Noakhali district where despite a strong vigil by law enforcers for ensuring peaceful Durga Puja celebrations, zealots beat and stabbed a man to death at a temple in Noakhali as idols, temples and businesses of the Hindu community came under attack in a few districts in December last year.
On September 21, 2021, Shahid Uddin Khan published a post on his Facebook ID calling upon people in Bangladesh to wage armed revolt against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her government as well as India and China. He also has used highly-instigative words calling upon members of the armed forces in the country to “wage revolt” against the government. Under international laws and conventions, continuing such dangerous activities is illegal which can result in immediate arrest and deportation of the perpetrators of such crime.
According to Indian news agency IANS, intelligence agencies in that country currently are probing a deep-rooted nexus involving underworld mafia don and notorious terrorist Dawood Ibrahim and a London-based fugitive sacked officer of Bangladesh Army named Md. Shahid Uddin Khan.
The news agency claims that Indian intelligence agencies suspect that Md. Shahid Uddin Khan, who is involved in gun running, trafficking in narcotics and money laundering has links with Dawood Ibrahim’s underworld activities operating from India’s northeastern borders.
According to immigration records, Shahid Uddin Khan and his family members are regularly visiting the United Arab Emirates. British intelligence agencies never wanted to know the reason behind this family’s visit to the UAE.
Media reports said, four months before the Sri Lanka attacks, ISIS funder Shahid Uddin Khan had sent an amount equivalent to ninety-two thousand dollars. This amount went from Dubai to Colombo. In other words, Khans funded the Sri Lanka jihadists – on behalf of ISIS.
Documents available with various intelligence agencies show, Shahid Uddin Khan hails from a radical Muslim family in Bangladesh while his wife Farjana Anjum too hails from similar family background. This couple’s daughters though are living and being educated in Britain, are notoriously radicalized and are working as lone wolves. They have been targeting various individuals and trying to convert them into Islam. One of Shahid Uddin Khan’s daughters namely Parisa Pinaz Khan (Bangladeshi passport number AF6723557) maintain liaison with Pakistani ISI and terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba.
It is indeed a million-dollar question as to why the UK authorities are reluctant in taking actions against terror-funder and convicted criminal Shahid Uddin Khan. As part of Britain’s firm commitment of combating Islamist jihad and terrorism, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government should look into this matter.
Damsana Ranadhiran is a security analyst
