Banks Ordered To Freeze Accounts Of Hizb ut Tahrir Bangladesh

October 25, 2009 12:01 p.m. EST

Dhaka, Bangladesh (AHN) - The central bank of Bangladesh ordered the commercial banks to freeze accounts of Hizb ut Tahrir Bangladesh, three days after authorities banned the Islamic outfit on charges of destabilizing the country.

"We've issued the directive in line with the existing Anti-Terrorism Act. We have also asked the banks to immediately freeze accounts of those involved with the organization," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB), the country's central bank, told AHN in Dhaka on Sunday.

He also said the anti-terrorism laws enacted earlier this year empower the central bank to freeze accounts of suspected terror outfits and give directives to the commercial banks to halt monetary transactions meant for supporting militancy.

"We have been given absolute power to freeze any bank account for a maximum 60 days in two phases to examine overall transactions of the suspected accounts," the BB official added.

The BB officials also said the central bank has taken the move after the home ministry slapped a ban on the Islamic group on October 22.

Hizb ut-Tahrir is an Islamic political party founded in Jerusalem in 1953 and started its journey in Bangladesh in 2001.

Home Minister of Bangladesh Sahara Khatun earlier said Hizb ut Tahrir Bangladesh is trying to "destabilize the country" and is involved in "destructive activities." She also said reports by intelligence agencies prompted the government action.

The government decision came a day after a bomb attack on ruling party Awami League lawmaker Barrister Fazle Nur Tapash who is also a close relative of the prime minister.

Barrister Taposh escaped unhurt but the blast left at least 15 people injured. Police have arrested four people, including two relatives of Sheikh Mujib's self-confessed killers.

With Hizb ut Tahrir, the government has so far been banned five Islamic outfits. The four others were -- Shahadat-e-Al Hiqma, Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh, Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh and Harkat-Ul Jihad al Islami.