Court accepts charges against five Ansarullah militants

A Dhaka court yesterday accepted charges against five members of banned militant outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team in a case filed in connection with planning to collect members for IS (Islamic State) and take them along to Syria.

After scrutinising the case dockets and other relevant documents, Judge Kamrul Hossain Mollah of the Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court passed the order.

The judge also set April 2 for hearing on charge framing against the five militants in the case.  

The accused are Abdullah al Galib, 25, Fida Muntasir Saker, 26, Asif Pathan alias Rahat, 21, Faiyaz Ismam Khan, 24, and Sabbir Hossain alias Pranto, 24.   

Of the five, Galib is now in jail while the four others got bail from the High Court on different dates.

On December 11 last year, detectives pressed charges against the five for allegedly committing the offences.

In the charge sheet, the investigation officer of the case said the charges brought against the five for their alleged involvement in conspiring to destabilise the country's law and order and to kill some important figures were primarily proved and they should be tried. 

Galib, Fida and their associates were recruiting fighters and collecting funds to wage jihad in Bangladesh, according to the case statement. 

Galib, 27, son of an ex-army official, also launched a new militant organisation called “Jund At-Tawheed Wal Khilafah”. He was arrested in his Baridhara DOHS house on May 30 in 2015.

Fida was held in his Banani DOHS house on June 17 and Faiyaz in his Mirpur DOHS house on June 20 the same year. Asif and Sabbir were detained from different places in the capital on August 6 that year. 

Later, a case under the anti-terrorism act was filed with Cantonment Police Station against Galib, Fida and several other unidentified militants.