5 'Ansarullah men' held in Chittagong

Detectives arrested five alleged members of banned militant outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) in Chittagong city's Patenga area early yesterday.

On information, a team of Detective Brach (DB) of police raided a house in Katgar area around 1:00am and caught the ABT men, said Nazmul Hasan, additional deputy commissioner of DB (Bandar circle) of Chittagong Metropolitan Police.

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There they were planning to carry out subversive activities in the port city, said DB Sub-Inspector Aftab Hossain, adding that they were yet to know about their detail plan.

The ABT men were recruited several months ago by Musa Ebne Omayer, a converted Muslim who is now in jail since his arrest by Sitakunda police for planning to attack law enforcers, and mills and factories in Chittagong on July 10, said Aftab, quoting the arrestees as saying.

The arrestees are: Akkas Ali Nayan, a second-year student of political science in Chittagong College; Atiqul Hasan Emon, a master's student of Government Commerce College in Chittagong; Zamshedul Alam Hridoy, a first-year student of Bangla of Chittagong city's Omargani MES College; Md Rubel, a fourth-year BBA student of Southern University in Chittagong; and Mohammad Mohiuddin, a madrasa student from Bandarban.

During the drive, police also claimed to have recovered books on jihad, mobile phone sets and laptops from their possession.

Police produced the arrestees before a Chittagong court yesterday, praying for a 10-day remand for each of them to know about their leader Musa's activities.

The court fixed today for hearing on the remand prayer.

According to the police, Musa, who used to collect and look after the funds of ABT, had ended relationship with his family after he married a Muslim woman and converted to Islam in 2013.

He was born in 1989 in a Hindu family in Chhanahara village of Chittagong's Patiya upazila. His name was Piklu Das before his conversion to Islam.

A case was filed against the five with Patenga Police Station under the anti-terrorism act.