3 'Ansarullah men' arrested

Detectives arrested three alleged members of banned militant outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) in Chittagong city and Patiya upazila early yesterday.

The arrestees are Farhad Hossain Ripan, 27, Mohammad Emran, 25, and Ahmed Hossain Roni, 21, said police.

Of them, Farhad, who was a former student of the Chemistry department at Chittagong University, was working in a French-based company in Karnaphuli EPZ in the port city, said Nazmul Hasan, additional deputy commissioner (Bandar zone) of Detective Branch (DB) of police of Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP).

Emran completed diploma from Chittagong Polytechnic Institute, and Rony was a student of Shyamoli Ideal Technical College in the port city.

Acting on a tip-off, DB police raided a house in the city's Double Mooring area around 12:30am and arrested Farhad, he said, adding that another team conducted a drive in a house at Shikalbaha in Patiya upazila and caught Emran around 1:00am.

In another raid, detectives nabbed Rony from Dhalghat village of the same upazila around 2:00am, the DB official said.

During the drives, the DB police also recovered two laptops, three mobile phones and a good number of jihadi books from their possession, he claimed.

During primary interrogation, the arrestees admitted that they were members of ABT and had attended several meetings with ABT leaders in Chittagong, said the DB official.

Several months ago, the arrestees were recruited to ABT by Musa Ebne Omayer, a converted Muslim who is now in jail, said Nazmul.

“We are interrogating them for further information,” he added.

Musa, who according to police used to look after the funds of ABT, ended relationship with his family after he married a Muslim woman and converted to Islam in 2013.

He was born in 1989 in a Hindu family in Chhanahara village of Chittagong's Patiya upazila. His name was Piklu Das before his conversion to Islam.

Musa and three other ABT men were arrested in Sitakunda's Barabkunda area when they were planning to attack law enforcers, mills and factories in Chittagong on July 10.