Huji men joining Ansar al Islam: Rab

As top leaders of banned militant outfit Harkat-ul-Jihad Bangladesh (Huji) are either hanged or behind bars, its operatives are now joining another outfit Ansar al Islam responsible for killing bloggers, writers and free thinkers, a top Rab official said yesterday.

“Huji operatives are now changing their group,” said Mozammel Haque, commanding officer of Rab-4, at a press conference at Rab media centre, following arrest of four Ansar al Islam men from the city’s Gabtoli and nearby Amin Bazar areas on Sunday night.

The arrestees are -- Mufti Saiful Islam, 34; Salim Mia, 30; Zunayed, 37; and Ahmed Sohayel, 21.

Of them, Saiful and Zunayed were once affiliated with Huji but are now holding important posts in Ansar al Islam, Mozammel said. 

The arrestees in preliminary interrogation said they hate the existing government system and want to establish an Islamic law-based system through so-called Jihad, he said.

“They had a plan to kill those they believe are obstacles in their way,” the Rab official said. The Rab CO said the outfit usually uses machetes to carry out target killings. Rab are yet to be sure whether the arrestees are involved in such killings, but claimed to have seized two machetes from the arrestees’ possession.

Rab officials said Saiful, a teacher of a madrasa, is a top leader and trainer of Ansar al Islam. He used to communicate with others through encrypted messaging apps.

An inhabitant of Hazaribagh, Salim Mia stepped into militancy after he got acquainted to Saiful while he was studying at the madrasa in 2013. He used to donate monthly to maintain the outfit, they added.

Zunayed was a founding director of a madrasa at Savar. He used to communicate with Saiful regularly. The outfit used to hold meetings occasionally in his madrasa.

Sohayel joined Ansar al Islam three years ago after he got acquainted with a top leader of the militant outfit online, Rab said.