5 'Neo JMB militants' held in capital
They were planning to attack govt establishments, says Rab
Rapid Action Battalion claimed to have arrested five militants of a cell of “Sarwar-Tamim group” early yesterday on charge of planning to attack government establishments.
The arrestees were identified as Oliuzzaman alias Oli, 28, Anwarul Alam, 29, Saleh Ahmed Shis, 22, Md Mohon alias Mohsin, 20, and Abul Kashem, 27.
They were arrested while conducting drives in the capital's Kafrul and Mirpur based on tip-offs, said Rab Additional Director General (operations) Col Anwar Latif Khan.
A stash of raw materials used in making bombs, two fake firearms and jihadi books were recovered from their possession, he told a press briefing at the elite force's media centre in the capital.
He said they were trying to trace other members of the cell, including two, namely Monir and Salam alias Abdullah, who were tasked with carrying out the attack.
Comprising 10-12 members, the cell has been operating for the past 15 months with the sole target of attacking government establishments, said Col Anwar.
According to Rab, Sarwar Jahan, who jumped to his death while trying to flee from a building during a Rab raid in Ashulia on October 8, is the chief of "Neo JMB", an offshoot of banned militant outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).
However, Dhaka Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit says he is a third-tier leader of "Neo JMB".
They also say that Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury is the chief coordinator of the outfit and mastermind of the July 1 Gulshan attack, in which 20 hostages, 17 of them foreigners, were killed.
THE DETAINEES
Oliuzzaman started working with “Sarwar-Tamim group” at the end of 2015 and was the "in-charge" of the cell, said the Rab official.
He gave training on making "anti-Islamic" posts go viral in social media so that the cell could garner sympathy and public support, said Col Anwar.
Graduating in 2012 from the electrical and electronic engineering department of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet), he had joined a telecommunications company, he added.
Anwarul graduated from the chemical engineering department the same year, is an expert in making bombs and was at present working as a teacher at a coaching centre in the capital, mentioned the official.
A relative of Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami, Bangladesh (Huji-B) chief Mufti Abdul Hannan, Saleh joined the “Sarwar-Tamim group” through Oliuzzaman and used to collect funds from the members upon Oliuzzaman's instructions, claimed Col Anwar.
He took training in operating firearms in Chittagong a year back, he added.
Kashem got his Dawra-e-Hadith degree from Jamia Arabia Emdadul Ulum Madrasa at Faridabad in 2014 and mainly used to discuss religious issues with the cell members, he said.
He inspired Mohsin into joining the group and the latter, getting his firearms training in Chittagong in mid-2016, used to mainly motivate people into militancy by giving wrong interpretations of Islam, said the official.
Col Anwar, however, did not give any specific answer to queries of journalists regarding the training locations, trainers' identities, the outfit's future plans and the government establishments targeted.