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Investigators said members of the group communicated through Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp, Session, and Telegram. They used pseudonyms to conduct activities aligned with what police described as extremist objectives.

The boy’s phone also contained audio, video, images, and chat records that investigators say support Neo-JMB ideology. Screenshots of the materials have been collected and are being examined as part of the ongoing probe, according to the forwarding letter.

Intelligence sources said the boy studied up to class-VIII. His father works in Oman. He lives with his mother and elder brother.

He went missing on September 20 last year, prompting his mother to file a general diary. Police rescued him from Gazipur weeks later, unaware of his alleged militant links.

Officials claim that he was introduced to Neo-JMB online, adopted pseudonyms, and even received bomb-making training from foreign experts. He uploaded a video to a private Facebook group, which drew concern from a foreign embassy in Dhaka.

Intelligence officials said he and others discussed possible attacks on Shia and Ahmadiyya mosques in the northern region and had been in contact with a dismissed army member regarding armouries in Savar.

His mother, however, insists that he is mentally unstable and denies any militant involvement.

“He used to watch Islamic videos, but we all do. He plays with children of all faiths. I never thought he was involved in militancy,” she told The Daily Star.

The Police Headquarters alert attached profiles of two alleged planners, Mohammad Rahed Hossain Mahed from Sylhet and Rakib Hasan alias Ubaida Al Usama from Savar, describing them as “extremely risky for the overall security of the country”.

They warned that the group may carry out attacks on “important state installations,” including the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban, Shahbagh intersection, places of worship, police and army establishments, and entertainment centres. It also listed armouries of security forces as potential targets.

Regarding the alert, CTTC Joint Commissioner Munshi Shahabuddin told reporters at a press briefing on Saturday that they received the information and their CTTC cyber intelligence team was working on it. “There is no reason to panic.”

This warning stands in stark contrast to earlier assurances during the interim government.

On July 6, 2025, then home adviser Lt Gen (retd) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury said, “There is no militancy in Bangladesh at present.”

Days earlier, then Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sheikh Md Sazzat Ali dismissed militancy as a problem, saying mugging was the main focus. He even alleged that during the Awami League’s tenure, a “militant drama” was staged to justify the killings of young people.