Malaysian Police Bust Global Jihad Model Aimed At Destabilising Dhaka From Abroad | Exclusive

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Last Updated:June 28, 2025, 13:45 IST

Malaysian police busted a radical network linked to ISIS and JMB, arresting Bangladeshis who used labour routes and migrant hubs to plot Dhaka’s destabilisation from abroad

Malaysian police have arrested 36 Bangladeshi nationals in a multi-phase counter-terror operation conducted between April and June 2025. (Representative image/Reuters)

Malaysian police have arrested 36 Bangladeshi nationals in a multi-phase counter-terror operation conducted between April and June 2025 across Selangor and Johor. According to Malaysian authorities, the individuals were involved in spreading ISIS ideology, recruiting for militant activities, and planning operations aimed at destabilising the Bangladeshi government from abroad.

Top intelligence sources have told CNN-News18 that this is not an isolated incident but part of a recurring global pattern, where radical Islamist groups—primarily ISIS and Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB)—are exploiting labour routes, undocumented migration, and financial loopholes to build parallel jihadist structures overseas. These developments mark a shift in the operational model of groups like JMB, which is now aligned with ISIS and actively expanding its footprint in Southeast Asia.

Malaysia, which hosts nearly 500,000 Bangladeshi workers—many of whom are undocumented—has become a fertile ground for such networks. Recruiters exploit economic desperation and the reluctance of migrants to return home, radicalising individuals through mosques, hostels, and worker camps.

Intelligence agencies say Muslim-majority ASEAN nations are increasingly becoming hubs for radical Islamist activity, with similar cases reported across Saudi Arabia, Italy, Singapore, and other regions. In 2019, 14 Bangladeshi workers were deported from Dammam, Saudi Arabia, after authorities discovered hidden weapons. In Italy, 2021 investigations uncovered a network that used fake NGOs to funnel money to JMB-linked madrassas. In 2022, Singapore deported 26 Bangladeshis accused of plotting attacks during former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit.

Post-2016 counter-terror crackdowns in Bangladesh forced many JMB operatives to relocate to countries like Malaysia, Qatar, UAE, and Italy, where they have attempted to rebuild their infrastructure. The Rohingya refugee crisis has further complicated the security landscape, with camps in Cox’s Bazar suspected of serving as recruitment grounds for both JMB and al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS).

India and Myanmar are also under a similar threat. Indian agencies arrested 19 JMB operatives in 2023 who had entered the country through the Bangladesh–Myanmar border. The group has been previously linked to major terror incidents in India, including the 2014 Burdwan blast and the 2018 Bodh Gaya bomb plot.

Intelligence officials have also flagged the use of the informal hundi money transfer system, which is believed to be moving up to $7 billion annually into Bangladesh—funds that remain outside formal oversight and can be exploited to finance militant activity.

The Malaysian crackdown, sources say, is just the latest signal in a broader transnational jihadist strategy, one that continues to grow in scale and complexity.