Raid on Ashulia militant hideout: Who are these militants?

Report in Dhaka Tribune Desk, July 18, 2017 at 07:14 PM
Families and neighbours of suspected militants Mozammel, Rashed, Erfan and Alamgir – who were arrested from a hideout in Ashulia on July 16 – said they did not have any idea the youths were radicalised and involved in militant activity.
Three hail from rural areas in different districts, while Erfan’s family currently resides in Hathazari upazila of Chittagong. Our correspondents visited the family residences of the youths to learn more about their backgrounds.
Rashed un Nabi, 21, is a student in his 4th semester at Bogra SAIC Institute of Medical Technology.
His last visit to his village home at Udkhali, 15km away from Gaibandha town, was between April-May this year.
At the time, Rashed took Tk 2,500 from his father Rezaul Karim, who is a homeopathic practitioner, and left home for Bogra on May 1.
Rashed’s mother Rina Begum said: “My son had never committed any injustices against any one. It’s only by keeping bad company that he was led astray.”
Md Alamgir Hossain, who is also 21, hails from Krishnanagar village under Sunamganj’s Jamalganj upazila. He had been out of touch with his family members for the last two months.
Alamgir used to work at a spinning mill in Narsingdi. In the past, he studied at a number of madrasas in different locations. However, yhe youth had to put an end to his studies in order to help support the family.
He was a pious and polite boy, claimed his neighbours.
Jakir Hossain, one such neighbour, said: “He [Alamgir] used to study in the madrasa in his early life. He was very pious. He used to live separately from his family in the madrasa hostels.”
Mozammel Haq, 18, from Shankibhanga village under Mymensingh’s Trishal upazila, was a student of Taltala Jamia Arabia Makhjanul Ulum Madrasa in Mymensingh sadar upazila.
Mozammel’s father Abdul Mannan said they had lost contact with Mozammel and had no idea of his whereabouts since he left for the madrasa on February 10.
Two months later, the teenager phoned his sister-in-law Jasmine and told her that he had accepted a job as an imam at a mosque in Shariatpur district, in order to bear the expenses of his education. Subsequently, there was again only silence.
Ansar Ali, the family’s next-door neighbour, was surprised when he was told that Mozammel had been arrested for his alleged involvement in militant activity.
“Mozammel’s stays at his village home were very short. We only know that he was studying in a madrasa elsewhere,” he said.
Meanwhile, the address of the last suspected militant, who was identified as Erfanul Islam alias Abu Sufian, 21, son of Rafiqul Islam from Kadalpur Miaji village under Chittagong’s Raozan upazila, did not match when our correspondent visited the area, as they had been residing in Hathazari since 2011.
Erfan’s family members said that he disappeared on May 2 this year, after leaving home claiming he was going to enroll in a coaching centre.
An HSC graduate from Chawkbazar College of Science in 2016, his’s family said Erfan had harboured dreams of being a doctor and they had no indication he would turn to militancy.
During an anti-militant raid on a hideout at Chakalgram-Chourapara in Ashulia on Sunday, the four suspected militants surrender to RAB without any casualties.
Later, they were shown as arrested in a case filed with Savar police station on April 27.
A Dhaka court on Monday placed the four suspected militants on four-day remand. http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2017/07/18/ashulia-arrested-militants-background/