75 extremists to return to normal life on 1 Nov

About 75 members of several banned extremist groups will surrender to the Special Response Battalion (SRB) in Sirajganj district on 1 November in an attempt to return to normal life, officials have said.

The ceremony will take place at Salanga in the north-western district, Atiqur Rahman Mia, commanding officer of SRB-12, confirmed to the Daily Sun on Monday.

He said that the extremists from Sirajganj, Pabna, Kushtia and several other districts would hand over their firearms when they surrendered.

Sources at SRB headquarters said Farzana Sharmin, state minister for social welfare and women and children’s affairs, is expected to be the chief guest, although another source said this could change.

Two local members of parliament and the SRB’s director general, Additional Inspector General of Police Md Ahsan Habib Palash, are also expected to attend.

Each person who surrenders is expected to receive Tk1 lakh in assistance to rebuild their lives, the sources said.

Speaking at a press briefing on 11 March this year, the then Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) spokesperson, MZM Intekhab Chowdhury, said extremists who had previously surrendered and entered rehabilitation programmes were returning to armed activity after the fall of the Awami League (AL) government following the mass uprising in August 2024, whose activities are currently banned.

He made the remarks after two extremists were arrested and a significant cache of weapons was recovered at Salanga in Sirajganj.

Sources in the SRB said members of extremist groups have become active again in Pabna, Sirajganj, Kushtia, Meherpur and other districts.

They said extremists are currently most active in Pabna, followed by Sirajganj. Between 600 and 700 were believed to be operating across the two districts, committing a range of crimes, and most were armed.

Violence linked to the groups has continued. On 8 June this year, Ali Hossain, also known as Thakur, 53, a regional leader of the Purbabanga Sarbahara Party, was killed at Masum Bazar in Pabna town. Police said members of the outfit were behind the killing.

In September, five teachers at Rajshahi University received threats and extortion demands made in the name of the Purbabangla Sarbahara Party, police said.

Some other incidents involving extremists or people using their names were reported from different corners of the country in 2025 and this year.

Seeking anonymity, an SRB officer who has worked on extremism told the Daily Sun that many extremists who had surrendered in the past had not handed over all their weapons. Many had later returned to their former lives, the officer said. One reason was that society did not readily accept them. “They cannot do any work as people do not trust them,” the officer said.

The officer also said Tk1 lakh was not enough for rehabilitation.

On 22 May 2023, a total of 315 members of three groups – the Purba Bangla Communist Party-ML (Lal Pataka), the Purba Bangla Sarbahara Party (MBRM) and the Purba Bangla Sarbahara Party (Janajuddha) – surrendered to the then RAB at Salanga in Ullahpara, Sirajganj. They handed over 216 firearms to the then home minister.

Those who gave themselves up came from seven districts: Sirajganj, Pabna, Tangail, Rajbari, Meherpur, Kushtia and Bogura. In an earlier mass surrender in April 2019, a total of 596 members of various extremist groups gave up 68 firearms to the then home minister.

In 1998, 100 members surrendered to the then home minister at Kamarkhanda in Sirajganj.