In July 2022, Bangladesh Armed Forces promoted a heroic anti-terror crusader and a brilliant officer Ziaul Ahsan to the rank of Major General. Major General Ziaul Ahsan is currently serving as the Director General of the National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre (NTMC), a national-level intelligence agency in Bangladesh with the slogan – ‘Nation Comes First’. Earlier he received the highest medal from the Bangladesh Army for his outstanding performance.
Major General Ziaul Ahsan (FPP, BPM Bar, PPM Bar), an indomitable patriotic soldier inspired by the spirit of the true liberation war, a brilliant and smart officer hailing from the southern district of Barisal in Bangladesh, received the extremely prestigious Bangladesh Army Medal in 2021. He has been conferred this award in recognition of his heroic contributions in nabbing the self-proclaimed killers of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the Father of the Nation of Bangladesh, and for bringing them to justice.
Fearless freedom patriot Ziaul Ahsan was born on January 1, 1971, in Barisal. His father late Nasir Uddin Ahmed was a successful businessman in Barisal city and his mother late Hosneyara Begum was a renowned teacher of Sisters Day Primary, one of the oldest and most reputed schools in Barisal. Ziaul Ahsan is the fourth child among five sisters and three brothers in a large noble and well-educated family circle in Barisal. She was the teacher at Barisal district’s well-known Sister’s Day Primary.
Major General Ziaul Ahsan passed Secondary School Certificate examination from Barisal District School in 1985 and the Higher Secondary Certificate exam from the government Brajmohon College in 1987. He has also completed his Masters in Criminology from Dhaka University. Ziaul Ahsan was commissioned as an infantry officer in the Bangladesh Army on June 21, 1991, and received military degrees and higher training in Malaysia, the United Kingdom, and the United States along with training in various military institutions in different countries.
Earlier, Ziaul Ahsan was the Company Commander of Infantry Battalion, Company Commander of Para-Commando Battalion, and Deputy Commander of Infantry Battalion in various important positions in the Bangladesh Army. He has also served as an instructor in the Special Warfare Wing of the Bangladesh Army’s School of Infantry and Tactics.
Besides, Major General Ziaul Ahsan has performed various important duties with significant contributions to the United Nations missions. Later he was appointed as the first Deputy Commander of an Elite Force of Bangladesh Police on March 5, 2009. During the following year, on August 27, 2010, he took charge as the Director of the Intelligence Wing of an Elite Force. On December 7, 2013, he was appointed as the Additional Director General (Operations) of the same organization.
Ziaul Ahsan has proved his integrity, talent, dedication, and competence through work. As a result, the Bangladesh Army promoted him to the rank of Brigadier General for his outstanding performance and dedication in exploitation-free, poverty-free, discrimination-free, and non-communal justice-based Bangladesh with the vow to build an independent sovereign Bangladesh.
Major General Ziaul Ahsan, an anti-terror heroic crusader
Major General Ziaul Ahsan has been dedicatedly and courageously working in combating terrorism in Bangladesh. Motto of his life is keeping Bangladesh and its people free from any threats posed by terrorist and militancy groups. He enjoys high-esteem and respect within the Bangladesh society for his commitment to the country.
What NTMC does?
Under the dynamic and focused leadership of Major General Ziaul Ahsan, with the ‘Nation Comes First’ slogan, the National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre (NTMC) has been playing an important role by dedicatedly providing interception support to law enforcement agencies in Bangladesh through tireless round-the-clock duties. This organization has been playing a vital role in safeguarding national security since its inception.
In view of the massive increase in IT-related crimes due to the free flow of information worldwide, with the approval of Sheikh Hasina, the Honorable Prime Minister of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, the NMC was renamed as “National Telecommunication Monitoring Center (NTMC)” on January 31, 2013. The agency started functioning under the Ministry of Home Affairs as an independent organization from February 2014.
Despite various limitations due to the rapid advancement of global technology, NTMC is doing a strong and unprecedented job in protecting the law and order situation of the country through continuous 24/7 monitoring of all the media providing telecommunication services through the power of Article 97-A of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Act 2006 (Amended) through the legal framework of the state.
It is to be noted that NTMC has always contributed to meeting the difficult situation of the past and provide assistance in any operational work by overcoming all constraints due to requisite manpower, equipment limitations, optimal utilization of limited resources, timely guidance and able leadership from the highest level of government.
Each of the activities of NTMC involves one or more law enforcement agencies, intelligence agencies and investigative agencies of the country. As a very important institution of the country, NTMC has already been able to create a strong position with the government and all concerned agencies about its capabilities and requirements.
NTMC is working tirelessly to establish a central platform with information technology at the national level and to speed up the operational activities of all types of communication media.
All law enforcement and intelligence agencies are already getting modern monitoring facilities related to Call Content, Voice, Data through the monitoring system established since the establishment of NTMC for the purpose of criminal identification and communication media monitoring.
By collecting information from all types of social and web media, law enforcement and intelligence agencies are playing an effective role in identifying the real culprits spreading rumors on social media and bringing them under the law using NTMC’s technology. Moreover, nowadays, a class of unscrupulous individuals has been publishing various anti-government information through the free and misuse of the Internet: besides trying to spread it everywhere, they are also committing various criminal activities. Necessary activities are taken by NTMC to monitor the information published on the Internet.
In addition, NTMC has a self-contained Research and Development wing with archives to enhance the organization’s capabilities in keeping with the ever-changing information technology, which is working tirelessly to identify new and emerging risks.
Due to the advancement of information technology and the wide spread of the Internet, law enforcement and intelligence agencies face various problems in investigating Internet-based criminal activities. Considering the said problem, the current Director General Major General Ziaul Ahsan, SBP, BPM (Bar), and PPM (Bar) played a special role in increasing the capacity of NTMC in various fields through the purchase of modern technology equipment. He has been serving as Director since March 6, 2017, on the instructions of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
More about Major General Ziaul Ahsan
Ziaul Ahsan was promoted from Brigadier General to Major General in July. On July 21, a letter was sent to the Ministry of Public Administration to appoint Ziaul Ahsan as Director General of NTMC through a notification.
Later, on 05 September 2022, Major General Ziaul Ahsan, SBP, BPM (Bar), PPM (Bar) was appointed as the Director General of NTMC by an order of the Mission-1 Division of the Ministry of Public Administration. This is the first time that the post of Director General of the National Telecommunication Monitoring Center or NTMC has been created.
The success of all the law enforcement forces of the country is related to the achievement of the capability of this important organization in the world of technology to achieve technological excellence for the purpose of counter-terrorism, and therefore the motto of ‘Nation Comes First’ or ‘Country Above All’ is inspired by the current Director General Major General Ziaul Ahsan. Under the leadership, NTMC is continuously working to protect the security of the country, which will be able to contribute more successfully in the future as well as in the present in order to ensure the security of the country and the people.
Major General Ziaul Ahsan presented the National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre (NTMC) as a leading role in the security of the country and its people. Dedication, concentration, honesty, courage and hard work are the key ingredients of his career success. An insightful high-ranking army officer also has a keen eye for punctuality.
Major General Ziaul Ahsan had to go through various ups and downs. He has been the target of anti-independence evil forces. There have been many obstacles and setbacks. But he did not stay away from his work. Instead, he kept himself busy with new initiatives. Enriched NTMC, increased capacity. The spirit of the liberation war, progress, secularism, and modern-advanced thought have been combined with unstoppable speed.
