Report in The Daily Star, June 13, 2017
Counterterrorism officials have arrested six suspected “Neo JMB” men who allegedly planned to carry out attacks in Ramadan to mark the anniversary of deadly Gulshan café siege.
“As part of the plan, they had attempted to kill a top Islamic scholar who is vocal against militancy,” Monirul Islam, chief of Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit of DMP, said at a briefing yesterday.
“The militants were preparing to respond to the call from international terror outfits Islamic State and AQIS for Muslims to launch attacks this month,” Monirul told newsmen at the DMP Media Centre.
The suspects were arrested during a raid in New Market area in the capital around 3:35pm on Sunday with some documents and several pen drives and memory cards containing extremist materials, he added.
Three other suspected “Neo JMB” operatives were arrested in a raid on a house in Rajshahi on Sunday midnight. Police said they seized a pistol loaded with five bullets, two suicide vests and explosives from the house.
Besides, Rab claimed to have arrested the ameer of Shariah Board of “Sarwar-Tamim faction” of Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) from Demra in the capital yesterday.
NEW MARKET RAID
Two of those arrested in New Market area, Jahidul Islam alias Zoha alias Mashrur, 23, Abu Bakar Siddique alias Abu Mohammad, 19, had already done a recce of the house of the scholar, the CTTC chief said.
Police did not disclose the name of the scholar amid concerns about his security.
The four other arrestees are Mohammadullah Adnan, 19, Mehedi Hasan Emon alias Abu Hamza, 21, Khalid Saifullah alias Abu Musab, 19, and Shamsuddin Al Amin alias Abu Ahmad, 20.
“They gathered in New Market area to discuss their plan to kill the scholar and carry out other subversive activities,” Monirul said.
Officials say it was the “Neo JMB” militants who killed 20 hostages, mostly foreigners, and two police officials in the deadly attack on Holey Artisan Bakery, an upscale eatery in Gulshan, on July 1 last year during Ramadan.
Asked whether foreigners were targeted by the arrestees, Monirul said they have no such information yet. However, police will further interrogate them.
A Dhaka court placed the six on a three-day remand yesterday.
A counterterrorism official told The Daily Star that all the suspected militants studied in Qawmi madrasas and they used to meet regularly in New Market area.
Of them, Jahidul used to collect money from sympathisers to raise fund for the JMB offshoot, “Neo JMB” as law enforcers call it, he said.
DEMRA ARRESTS
The Rapid Action Battalion-11 claimed to have arrested Shaykh Mamunur Rashid alias Mamun, 34, vice principal of Markajul Hikma Qawmi Madrasa in Demra, around 7:30am yesterday.
According to Rab officials, Mamun joined JMB through two other operatives, Towhid and Imam, in 2014. He joined “Sarwar-Tamim faction” in 2015.
A year later, he was given the charge of Shariah (Islamic law) Board considering his educational background.
Mamun completed Dawra-e-Hadith and took higher studies in Darul Uloom Deoband madrasa in India, said Rab’s Director (Legal and Media) Mufti Mahmud Khan at a briefing at its Karwan Bazar media centre in the afternoon.
Rab also said that Mamun used to translate provocative militancy-related articles from Arabic into Bangla.
RAJSHAHI RAID
Three suspected militants of “Neo JMB” were arrested by counterterrorism personnel during a raid at a “militant den” in Dangapara village of Tanore upazila on Sunday midnight, reports our staff correspondent from Rajshahi.
Five family members of the three surrendered with four children during the operation.
“We had intelligence that the house was being used for sheltering militants and preserving explosives,” said Md Asaduzzaman, the SP of Bogra.
The three arrestees are Ibrahim Hossain, 35, his brother Israfil Alam, 26, and brother-in-law Rabiul Islam, 25.
Ibrahim’s father and house owner Ramjan Ali, 60, his wife Ayesha Begum, his daughter and Rabiul’s wife Hawa Khatun, 20, Ibrahim’s wife Morzina Khatun and Israfil’s wife Haresa Khatun were detained after they surrendered with Ibrahim’s daughters Tamanna, 8, Taskira, 4, seven-month-old Tanshira and Rabiul’s three-month-old baby girl.
Ibrahim, a fertiliser and pesticide seller, Israfil, a homeopath practitioner, and Rabiul, a carpenter, had trainings in suicide attacks. Ibrahim was involved in militancy since 2011-12 year, claimed the Bogra SP.
“Other family members are needed to be interrogated to know if they had links to militancy,” he said.
Ramjan Ali is a teacher of Gourangapur Government Primary School.
“He [Ramjan] is a polite man and a philanthropist. We can’t believe he is involved in JMB,” said Kamruzzaman, a neighbour.
http://www.thedailystar.net/frontpage/plot-kill-islamic-scholar-foiled-1419352
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