Mohammad Jahangir Alam | |
---|---|
Born | Dinajpur, Rajshahi, Bangladesh | 19 October 1973
Allegiance | Bangladesh |
Service/ | Bangladesh Army |
Years of service | 1993 - Present |
Rank | Brigadier General |
Unit | East Bengal Regiment |
Commands |
|
Battles/wars | UNIKOM |
Police career | |
Unit | Rapid Action Battalion |
Allegiance | Bangladesh |
Branch | Bangladesh Police |
Service years | 2018–2019 |
Rank | Additional Director |
Mohammad Jahangir Alam is a Bangladesh Army brigadier general and former commander of President Guard Regiment. [1] [2] He was commissioned with 29th BMA Long Course in Bangladesh Army. [3] He served as Additional Director General (Operations) at the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) - an elite multi-service unit of the Bangladesh Police. [4] He was one of seven officers of RAB sanctioned by the United States for violation of human rights. [5]
Alam was born on 10 October 1973 in Dinajpur District, Bangladesh. [6] He completed his master's degree in Defense Studies from the Bangladesh University of Professionals. [7]
On December 19, 1993, Alam received his commission on the 29th long course of Bangladesh Military Academy. [8] He was commissioned in the Infantry Corps of Bangladesh Army. [9] He was trained in counter terrorist tactics in the United States. [10] He had previously commanded the 38 East Bengal Regiment of the 17th Infantry Division. [11] He worked as a platoon Commander in the Bangladesh Military Academy. [7]
In October 2018, Alam, then lieutenant colonel, hosted the seventh annual Pacific Resilience Disaster Response Exercise and Exchange between Bangladesh Army and U.S. Army Pacific. [12] He served on deputation with the Kuwaiti Army for three years. [13] Alam was promoted on 11 January 2017 to colonel and appointed to the 19th Infantry Division, based at Shahid Salahuddin Cantonment, as the division Colonel Staff. [8]
Alam was appointed the Additional Director General (Operations) at the Rapid Action Battalion on 17 September 2018 replacing Colonel Mohammad Anwar Latif Khan. [8] [14] He was appointed on deputation from Bangladesh Army. [15] He oversaw special security arrangements for the Pahela Baishakh celebrations in 2019. [16]
Alam left the Additional Director General (Operations) at the Rapid Action Battalion on 27 June 2019 and was replaced by Colonel Tofayel Mustafa Sorwar. [17] Alam was promoted to Brigadier General and posted to 203rd Infantry Brigade. [18] He was later appointed the Commander of the President Guard Regiment. [19]
On 10 December 2021, the U.S. Department of the Treasury placed sanctions on Alam and added him to its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list under the Global Magnistsky Act for engaging in serious human rights abuses relating to his tenure at RAB, including the Killing of Ekramul Haque. [20] [21] [22] He was one of seven serving and former officers of RAB to be sanction by the United States. [23] Following the sanctions, the United States Ambassador to Bangladesh, Earl R. Miller, was summoned by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh, A K Abdul Momen, who handed him a protest note. [24] He was asked by Prime Bank Limited to close his account at the bank, which had been suspended, due to the U.S. sanctions. [25]
The Bangladesh Army is the land warfare branch and the largest component of the Bangladesh Armed Forces. The primary mission of the Army is to defend the land of Bangladesh from any external attack. Control of personnel and operations is administered by the Army Headquarters, Dhaka Cantonment. The Bangladesh Army is also constitutionally obligated to assist the government, during times of domestic national emergency e.g. the army helps people during any natural calamity. This additional role is commonly referred to as "aid to civil administration" or, using the Latin form, "Protectio, Transparentia, Reintegratio", in others words, "Protect and Serve".
Rapid Action Battalion is an anti-crime and anti-terrorism unit of the Bangladesh Police. This elite force consists of members of the Bangladesh Army, Navy, Air Force, Police, Border Guard, and the Bangladesh Ansar. It was formed on 26 March 2004 as RAT, and commenced operations on 14 April 2004.
The Special Weapons And Tactics(SWAT) (Bengali: বিশেষ অস্ত্র ও কৌশল, সোয়াট) is a tier two police tactical unit of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) of the Bangladesh Police. They operate under the Special Action Group of the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC). The SWAT was formed to recover illegal arms and arrest hardcore terrorists and has a vital role in neutralizing any and all threats.
Jahangir Alam Chowdhury is a retired Lieutenant General of the Bangladesh Army and former Director General of the Bangladesh Rifles during the conflicts with Border Security Force of India and skirmishes with Banga Sena group in the Bangladesh–India border. He has been serving as an adviser of the Interim Government of Bangladesh since 16 August 2024.
Enforced disappearances in Bangladesh are cases in which the Government of Bangladesh directly or indirectly kidnaps people and holds them incommunicado. According to Dhaka-based human rights group Odhikar, at least 402 people were victims of enforced disappearance from 2009 to 2017 under the Awami League administration. These incidents along with extrajudicial killings in Bangladesh have been criticized by the United Nations and human rights groups including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), a special paramilitary unit in Bangladesh, is alleged to be behind most of these disappearances, but the RAB denies these allegations. The Awami League regime has denied involvement in these forced disappearances even when victims later surface in custody.
Crossfire refers to the death of a person by gun shot, oftentimes under the custody of a law enforcement agency in Bangladesh. There are accusations that it is staged extrajudicial killing. In March 2010, the then director general of the elite law enforcement agency of Bangladesh, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) said that since it was started in 2004 RAB had killed 622 people. Human Rights Watch, a New York-based NGO, has described RAB as a Bangladeshi government death squad. Odhikar, a Dhaka-based human rights organization, reported at least 1,169 people lost their lives in extrajudicial killings between January 2009 and May 2016 in Bangladesh. According to Odhikar, in June 2016, extrajudicial killings in the country took at least 24 lives. According to another rights group, Ain O Salish Kendra, 79 people were killed in so-called shootouts while in police custody in Bangladesh in the first six months of 2016. The police were involved in 37 of these deaths. Of them, seven had been in killed in crossfire with Detective Branch (DB) officials. Bangladesh police forces shot dead 130 people in a Philippines-style drugs crackdown in three weeks starting from May 2018.
Md Jahangir Al Mustahidur Rahman is a Bangladesh Army major general. In his long career he was the chairman of Bangladesh Tea Board. He was also appointed as the Ambassador of Bangladesh to Lebanon by the government of Bangladesh.
Jahangir Alam Khan is a Bangladeshi agricultural economist and researcher. He is the incumbent Vice Chancellor of the University of Global Village (UGV). Prior to his appointment in the university, he was the director general of Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute (BLRI). He also served as a director of Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council. In recognition of his contribution in research, the government of Bangladesh awarded him the country's second highest civilian award Ekushey Padak in 2020.
Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun is a Bangladeshi police officer who was sacked for involvement in mass killing during the Bangladesh student protest. He is now in custody. Mamun served as the 31st Inspector general of Bangladesh Police (IGP) who served from 30 September 2022 to 6 August 2024. Previously, he served as director general of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB). He was made the DG of RAB in April 2020. Prior to join RAB, he was the chief of Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
Killing of Ekramul Haque refers to the extrajudicial killing of Ekramul Haque, councillor of Teknaf Municipality Ward three, by a unit of the Rapid Action Battalion. He was elected as councilor in Teknaf Municipality three times in a row as a candidate of the Awami League. Haque was a former president of the Teknaf unit of the Jubo League, the youth wing of Awami League, for 13 years. During a Bangladesh government crackdown on the narcotics trade, the death of more than 100 suspects took place in shoot-outs with law enforcement agencies. Since 2018 more than 200 individuals were killed in extrajudicial shootings by law enforcement agencies in Teknaf alone.
Khan Mohammad Azad is a Bangladesh Army colonel who served as the Additional Director General (Operations) at the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) — the elite multiservice, anti-crime and anti-terrorism unit of the Bangladesh Police.
Tofayel Mustafa Sorwar is a Bangladesh Army brigadier general and the former additional director general (operations) at the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), an elite multi-service unit of the Bangladesh Police. He has been sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury for human rights violation at RAB during his time at the agency.
Mohammad Anwar Latif Khan is a retired Bangladesh Army colonel and former sector commander of Border Guard Bangladesh in Rajshahi. He is the former additional director general (operations) at the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) an elite multi-service unit of the Bangladesh Police, and oversaw crackdowns on Islamist militants. He has been sanctioned by the United States for his activities in RAB. He had previously commanded RAB-5, RAB-7, and RAB-11.
Miftah Uddin Ahmed is a Bangladesh Army lieutenant colonel and officer of the Rapid Action Battalion who has been sanctioned by the United States for human rights violations.
Inside the Death Squad or "'Death squad': Inside Bangladesh's Rapid Action Battalion" is a documentary film produced by Deutsche Welle in partnership with Netra News that investigates allegations of extrajudicial killings and human rights abuses committed by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), an elite police force in Bangladesh. The documentary features interviews with former RAB officers, witnesses, and human rights activists, and includes footage of alleged killings and interviews with family members of victims. The RAB has been accused of carrying out extrajudicial killings and human rights abuses in Bangladesh. The documentary sheds light on the tactics used by the RAB, including torture, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings, and raises important questions about the use of state violence and the government's role in protecting human rights.
Md Kamrul Hassan is a Bangladesh Army officer and former additional director general of operations of Rapid Action Battalion.
Khandaker Al Moin is a Bangladesh Navy Commander and former Legal and Media Wing Director of the Rapid Action Battalion. He had defended Rapid Action Battalion after it was sanctioned by the United States for human rights violations.
Md Zahangir Alam is a Bangladeshi academic and vice-chancellor of Atish Dipankar University of Science and Technology. He was a professor of the Department of Applied Chemistry and Chemical Technology at the University of Dhaka.
Mohammad Jahangir Alam is a senior Bangladeshi military officer currently serving as the director general (DG) of the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI), the military intelligence unit of the Bangladesh Armed Forces. He took over this position in October 2024. Prior to his current role, he was the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 33 Infantry Division and the Area Commander of Cumilla Area.