‘Links to Militancy’: 5 of a family held in city
The police’s Anti-Terrorism Unit (ATU) arrested five members of a family in the capital’s Rupnagar area early yesterday over their alleged involvement with banned militant outfit Ansar al Islam.
The arrestees are Ahmed Ali, 57, senior principal officer of a state-run bank, his wife Salma Ahmed, 50, sons Abu Saleh Mohammad Jakaria, 24, Abu Saleh Mohammad Kibria, 22, and daughter Asma Ferdousi Rifa, 26.
Acting on intelligence, police surrounded a five-storey building in Rupnagar around 2:00am, ATU Superintendent (media) Mahiduzzaman told The Daily Star.
Sensing the presence of police, occupants of a flat on the third floor of the building exploded a hand bomb inside, he said.
The law enforcers knocked at the door of the flat, but the family members did not respond.
As the ATU members tried to break open the door, the “militants” attacked them with sharp weapons, bows and arrows. Three policemen were injured in the attack, claimed Mahiduzzaman.
Police fired retaliatory shots, leaving Jakaria with a bullet wound. They arrested the suspects then.
Jakaria was undergoing treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
Police claimed to have recovered some sharp weapons, remains of the exploded bomb, liquid chemical and some bomb-making equipment and materials from the flat.
ATU officials said the family members were persuaded by Jakaria to get involved in militancy. They said suspected militants used to hold meetings at the flat.
Talking to this newspaper, locals said they didn’t find anything suspicious about the activities and movements of the family members. They, however, said they heard loud noises around midnight on Friday.
Nazma Begum, owner of the building, said Ahmed Ali had been living in the flat with his family for the last 11 years. She said she never noticed anything suspicious about the family’s activities.
Visiting the spot around 9:00am yesterday, this correspondent saw 15-20 ATU men in and outside the building. The law enforcers were searching Ahmed Ali’s apartment and the occupants of the other flats were staying inside.
Members of Ansar Al Islam, formerly known as Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), had allegedly killed secularist writers, bloggers, and LGBT rights activists in the country. Despite carrying firearms, they mainly used machetes during the killings.
The government banned the outfit in March 2017.
Comments