Death row convict Huji man held

The forged passport and nat’l ID card of Huji leader Maulana Abu Bakar Siddique, a death row convict in Ramna Batamul carnage case, are being displayed at the Rab headquarters yesterday. Siddique was arrested early Wednesday. Photo: Sk Enamul Haq

The Rapid Action Battalion yesterday arrested a fugitive death row convict in Ramna Batamul carnage case, about 13 years after the incident which claimed 10 lives.

Maulana Abu Bakar Siddique alias Hafez Selim Hawlader, 35, is a top leader of the banned Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (Huji) and also an accused in the August 21 grenade attack case, said Rab officials.

Huji top-notch Abu Bakar Siddique, sentenced to death for Ramna Batamul carnage that killed 10 people in 2001, being escorted to media briefing at the Rab headquarters yesterday. Photo: Sk Enamul Haq

He was captured around 2:30am from Keraniganj, and was paraded before the media at the Rab headquarters in the capital's Uttara yesterday.

At the press briefing, Rab Media Wing Director Commander Mufti Mahmud Khan said Siddique was a close associate of top Huji leader Mufti Abdul Hannan, another death row convict in the Ramna carnage case.

Siddique had been living in Keraniganj after hiding his identity, added the Rab official.

A Dhaka court in June handed the death penalty to eight Huji operatives, including Hannan and Siddique, and life term imprisonment to six others in the Ramna carnage case. The carnage took place during the Pahela Baishakh celebrations in 2001.

During primary interrogation, Siddique told the elite force that he got acquainted with Mufti Hannan in 1992 when he was a student at Gawhardanga Hafizia Madrasa at Tungipara in Gopalganj.

“He [Hannan] used to visit the madrasa frequently and give lectures on his experience with Afghan militants. He used to motivate the students and teachers,” Siddique told the briefing.

Rab official Mahmud said thus motivated by Hannan, Siddique actively took part in both the Ramna carnage and the 21 August grenade attack in 2004.

The gruesome attack killed 24 people and injured scores.

Siddique protested his innocence in both the cases. He, however, said he was at the August 21 rally. He came to Dhaka from Kishoreganj around 12:30pm that day after a certain Kajal Ahmed called him for an “important job”.

He claimed Kajal then introduced him with the then president of Awami Olama League. They offered Asar prayers together at the Jatiya Press Club mosque. He then marched towards the rally venue in a procession of the Olama League.

“I sat about five feet away from the barricade. Suddenly I heard huge blasts. I ran away and took shelter at Baitul Mukarram National Mosque. After offering Maghrib prayers there I headed for Kishoreganj,” said Siddique.

He said he got introduced with Kajal, a Huji leader, at Baitul Mukarram mosque earlier that year.