Jamaat-e-Islami’s close connection with top Pakistani spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has once again surfaced as a delegation led by its secretary general met with ISI operatives in Saudi Arabia as recent as May, 2018, an ongoing probe has found.

Intelligence findings indicates that Jamaat, considered by the ISI as its main ally in Bangladesh, carries out their political activities according to advices from the Pakistani spy agency operatives.

“Everybody knows that the ISI openly tries to meddle with Bangladesh’s politics and who they use. Several BNP and Jamaat leaders work as their agents,” Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal told Bangla Tribune.

He said that probes have been opened into the recently leaked audio conversation purportedly between a top BNP leader and an ISI operative.

“Measures have been initiated in line with the law,” he said.

On Dec 11, a telephone conversation between BNP’s National Standing Committee member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain and Dubai-based ISI operative ‘Mehmood’ set the social media ablaze.

An investigation into the intercepted phone conversation led Bangladesh intelligence officials to uncover details of the meetings between Jamaat’s Secretary General Dr Shafiqur Rahman and ISI operatives in Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah earlier this year.

The meetings were held on May 25 and May 26 and Jamaat’s Jeddah unit Ameer Jamaat Shahid Ul Islam attended those.

They talked about the current political situation in Bangladesh and discussed strategies over the ensuing national election slated for Dec 30.

Jamaat secretary general Rahman assured the Pakistani spy agency of keeping regular contact and talked about the next meet when they said they will discuss the party’s financial need upon conferring with its ameer.

According to dossiers unearthed by the intelligence, Shafiqur Rahman admitted in the meeting that hanged Jamaat leader Abdul Kader Mollah was a close confidante of ISI.

It was Mollah who maintained liaison with ISI until he was sentenced to the gallows in 2013 for war crimes committed during the liberation war of 1971.

Rahman requested ISI operatives not to directly contact them as he said it is risky under the current political circumstances.

Assuring ISI of keeping the coalition with BNP, Rahman hoped for continual support from the Pakistani agency on the issue of sharing seats with their long ally for the upcoming polls.   

Rahman told the meeting that the government, with India’s support, is behind enforced disappearance of their party leaders and extrajudicial killings. He vowed ‘befitting payback’ should the BNP-led Alliance come to power, the dossiers read.

He also sought Pakistan’s role to convince the country’s allies including China to exert pressure on the Awami League-led government.

In the meeting, the ISI operatives said that they should be in regular contact as they consider Jamaat, the banned political party, as their trusted ally and true friend.  

The BNP-led Alliance needs to be inspired to stir up a massive anti-government movement, said the operatives suggesting the Jamaat leaders to increase communication with Islami Oikya Jote leaders and leverage the mass-media to garner public support in favour of the BNP-led Alliance.  

Bangladesh intelligence officials have identified the ISI operative as Shaheed Mehmood Muhammad Sharif.

Sharif, a retired Pakistan Army officer, now lives in Dubai and is paid by the ISI to act as the liaison between its top officials and political leaders in Bangladesh.

Intelligence sources say, Mehmood works as an ISI agent with the cover of a sales manager for Dubai-based ‘Al Marjan Al Kabeer General Trading Company’.

According to them, Mehmood’s handler is a top ISI official named Javed Mehdi.

Mehmood serves as a liaison between Mehdi and leaders of the BNP-Jamaat.

Mehmood maintains regular communication with BNP’s UAE unit chief Zakir Hossain, who acts as the liaison for London-based party’s acting chief Tarique, said the source.

Several Dhaka-based media outlets ran reports based on the seven-minute long leaked conversation between Mehmood and the BNP leader.

Zakir, a Chittagong University graduate, hails from Sylhet and now works for Royal Packaging Industry in Dubai, they said before adding he was interested to run on the BNP’s ticket from a seat in Sylhet.

According to them, Zakir has met Mehmood at least on 11 occasions between July and December this year and the last meeting took place on Dec 7.

Mehmood told Zakir in one of those meeting during mid 2018 that his handler Mehdi advised the BNP to work closely with Jamaat, said the sources.

Terming the BNP-Jamaat coalition as extremely important ISI operatives told BNP that its vital for something greater in the future, they added.

Jamaat secretary general Shafiqur Rahman couldn’t be reached for comments on the matter despite several attempts to contact him.

He was still unavailable when coordinator at his electoral area Ataur Rahman Sarker was contacted via whatsapp.

Jamaat's Nayeb-e-Ameer Mia Golam Parwar, however, categorically denied any contact between ISI operatives and the party’s top brass including its secretary general.

“Dr Shafiqur Rahman was behind the bars for a long time and he went to Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah at the time after he was released from jail. Such allegations against him are untrue,” he said negating the ISI connection.

Claiming to hear about the matter for the first time when contacted for comments, he said, “Our politics is transparent and clean. We don’t do politics depending of other country’s spy agencies.”

“We have no contact with any such entity,” he added.