Bangladesh Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith has confirmed that “there is no evidence of Saradha money” in any bank in his country.
Mr. Muhith, a close aide of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, has also said the Ministry saw no money trail leading to any militant group in his country.
The Minister was speaking to journalists on the sidelines of a business conclave organised by Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) here on Saturday night.
Mr. Muhith, who had the distinction of serving in the Pakistan’s Foreign Service and Planning Commission before 1971 and as a Minister in the independent Bangladesh, is on a tour of the city.
“There is no evidence of any Mujahideen funds in any bank of Bangladesh,” the Minister said. However, he added, “Our banks need to probe more. As far as we (Finance Ministry) know, there is no fund for militant activities in banks.” In the last couple of months the Bangladeshi authorities said Dhaka was yet to discover a link between the non-banking financial scam in West Bengal and funding of terror groups in Bangladesh, especially Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).
Bangladesh Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu and the chief of the team of intelligence officers, Monirul Islam, also told The Hindu that Dhaka had “no evidence” to link the Trinamool Congress to the funding of violent non-State actors across the international border.
