Six Bangladeshi nationals, detained in Singapore under its Internal Security Act (ISA) last month, have been charged in a court with financing terrorism. Singapore-based channelnewsasia.com has said in a report that they are the first to be prosecuted under the Terrorism (Suppression of Financing) Act.

The six men – identified as Rahman Mizanur, Mamun Leakot Ali, Miah Rubel, Zzaman Daulat, Md Jabath Kysar Haje Norul lslam Sowdagar and Sohel Hawlader Ismail Hawlader – were charged in the court on Friday “for providing and/or collecting property for terrorist purposes”, it says quoting a police statement.

Two of them – Miah Rubel and Md Jabath Kysar Haje Norul lslam Sowdagar – will also be charged for possession of property for terrorist purposes under the Act.

The report says five of the six men told the court that they intended to plead guilty in the hearing on Tuesday.

One, Mamun Leakot Ali, denied the charges, and his case will be heard in a pre-trial conference on June 9.

A statement by Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had said on May 3 that the six were part of a group of eight plotting to establish ‘Islamic State in Bangladesh’.

The group, which called itself Islamic State in Bangladesh, was set up by 31-year-old S-Pass holder Rahman Mizanur in March this year, according to the statement.

The other members of the group, aged between 26 and 34 years, hold work permits. They worked in local construction and marine industries.

According to the MHA investigation, the group had identified several possible targets in Bangladesh, and possessed documents on weapons and bomb manufacture.

They also had a sizeable number of Islamic State and Al Qaeda radical materials, and planned to recruit other Bangladeshi nationals working in Singapore to expand their group.

The MHA said it had also seized funds the group had raised to buy firearms to carry out attacks in Bangladesh.

In January, Singapore said it had arrested 27 Bangladeshi construction workers, who supported Islamist groups including al-Qaeda and Islamic State and deported 26 of them.

Fourteen of the 26 have since been jailed in Bangladesh on ‘terror charges’, Bangladeshi police said, but denied they were linked to the Islamic State or al-Qaeda.

According to an MHA statement, another five Bangladeshis were arrested with Jihadi materials but were deported to Bangladesh as their links with the ‘Islamic State Bangladesh’ could not be established.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) said they had arrested the five deported from Singapore.

Police identified them as Mizanur Rahman aka Galib Hasan, 38, Raha Mia Pilot, 29, Alamgir Hossain, 29, Tanjimul Islam, 24, and Masud Rana aka Sallu Khan, 31