Recently, a screenshot of a news report from the British news outlet BBC’s website has been circulating on social media. The report claims that eight Bangladeshis have been arrested in Singapore on charges of plotting a militant attack. The post alleges that supporters of the current interim government are carrying out violence worldwide. It further warns that if swift action is not taken against them, their influence could become dangerously widespread in the future.
See the posts on X regarding this claim here: Here (Archive), Here (Archive)
Fact-Check
An investigation by the Rumor Scanner team has revealed that the arrest of these eight Bangladeshis for allegedly conspiring to carry out a terrorist attack is not a recent event. Instead, it is a news report from 2016 that is now being circulated to criticize the interim government.
To verify the claim, Rumor Scanner traced the BBC screenshot shared in the viral posts back to the original news article on the BBC website. The report, titled “Singapore arrests eight Bangladeshis accused of terror plot“, was published on May 3, 2016. According to the report, the eight Bangladeshis were arrested in Singapore in April 2016 on allegations of plotting terrorist attacks, including assassinations, upon returning to Bangladesh.
A statement from Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs indicated that these individuals were part of a secret group. In March 2016, a Bangladeshi named Rahman Mizanur formed this underground organization in Singapore, calling it Islamic State in Bangladesh (ISB). The arrested individuals were members of this organization.
A report from Bangladesh’s leading national daily, Prothom Alo, from that period confirms the same information.
Conclusion
The incident of eight Bangladeshis being arrested in Singapore in 2016 on charges of plotting a terrorist attack has been circulated online as a recent event, which is misleading.
