Sirajul Islam. Photo: Collected

Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit yesterday claimed to have arrested a close aide of a Bangladeshi expat in Saudi Arabia, Mustaq Mohammad Arman Khan, who had been spreading provocative messages on social media through misinterpreting religion.

A team of CTTC arrested Sirajul Islam from Dhaka's Badda area, CTTC Deputy Commissioner Saiful Islam told The Daily Star. "He is a close aide of Mustaq and had been disseminating information through private apps and social media," he added.

Saiful said Sirajul used to work at a private firm as a chartered accountant and lives in Badda with his family.

On August 22, an official of the unit filed a case with Ramna Police Station against Mustaq for misinterpretation of religious affairs and spreading provocative speech.

A Buet graduate of 2006, Mustaq went to Saudi Arabia in 2018 and had been spreading provocative messages since then, claiming himself a religious leader, CTTC officials said. Law enforcers have already arrested 19 youths who were preparing to join him in Saudi Arabia.

According to CTTC officials, Sirajul took oath under Mustaq's leadership and used to propagate his video content on social media and private apps to increase the number of followers.

Sirajul was shown arrested in the case filed with Ramna Police Station.