Bangladeshi workers in Singapore charged over terror plot

Singapore : Six Bangladeshi wor­kers detained last month under the Internal Security Act (ISA) were charged with financing terrorism.

The six, aged between 26 and 31, were among eight men arrested between late March and early Ap­­ril.

Calling themselves the Islamic State in Bangladesh (ISB), the men were planning attacks back home in hopes of toppling the Bangladeshi government.

Their goal was to set up an Islamic State back home and bring it under the self-declared caliphate of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

Yesterday, the six men were charged with providing or collecting money for terrorism under the Terrorism (Suppression of Finan­cing) Act.

The six were the first to be prosecuted under the Act, said a police spokesman in a statement.

The Act is one of several pieces of legislation passed in 2002, in the wake of the Sept 11 attacks in the United States and the foiled Jemaah Islamiyah plot in Singapore.

“Singapore takes a serious view of any support for terrorism-related activities, including terrorism financing,” said the spokesman.

Source : The Star