Mufti Obaidullah put on remand

Mufti ObaidullahStar Online Report

Indian national Mufti Obaidullah, who is one of the most wanted by the Indian law enforcement and intelligence agencies, has been placed on a seven-day remand for interrogation.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Dr Abdul Majid today passed the remand order after the Detective Branch (DB) of Police produced him before the court with a 10-day remand prayer.

Earlier, Detective Branch of police showed Mufti Obaidullah arrested, last Friday.

Quoting Mufti Obaidullah intelligence sources said that Pakistan based Islamist terrorist organisation Laskar-e-Taiyeba has been active in Bangladesh for the last 14 years.

Local leaders of the organisation have links to the network of absconding Indian mafia don Daud Ibrahim, and also to leaders of other Islamist militant organisations like Harkatul Jihad al Islami Bangladesh (HuJi), the sources added.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner AKM Shahidul Hoque said the arrestee has been identified as Mufti Obaidullah, who has been staying in the country since 1995.

"He was arrested from the capital, and was taking preparations for a jihad by organising Bangladeshi mujahids with directives from Ameer Reza, a leader of Kashmir based Laskar-e-Taiyeba, who is an Indian national now staying in Pakistan," the DMP commissioner said.

Obaidullah took part in Afghan conflicts four times. Besides, he was active in militancy in India, in collaboration with militants from Pakistan and Afghanistan. He also collaborated with Islamist militants of Kashmir, Benaras, Punjab, and Hyderabad in India, said the DMP commissioner adding that Obaidullah came to Bangladesh to evade Indian intelligence after the government of that country in 1994 had declared him one of the most wanted.

DB sources said a team led by Deputy Police Commissioner Monirul Islam of DB-North identified the Indian terrorist on the basis of confessions made by another detained Indian national Daud Merchant, a close aide to Daud Ibrahim and one of the main accused in the killing of music baron Gulshan Kumer.

Daud Merchant and his associate Zahid Sheikh, who is also an Indian national, were arrested in Bangladesh a month and a half ago.

According to the sources, Mufti Obaidullah has a PhD degree on fatwa from Deobandh Madrasa in India, and he was a teacher at Jamiatul Sunnah Madrasa of Shibchar upazila in Madaripur since 2003.

In June 1995 he came to Bangladesh, took up a fake name, Abu Zafar, and started teaching in different madrasas in Monirampur of Jessore, in Shrimangal of Moulvibazar, and at Tikirpur Jamia Mahmudia Madrasa in Nawabganj of Dhaka.

He took part in the previous Afghan war in 1988 while he was a student. In 1990, he took part in the ensuing Afghan conflict for the second time, when he was trained in operating a wide range of light and heavy weapons like machine-gun, anti-aircraft gun, BM-50 canon, rocket launcher, and mortar.

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