Hefajat conspired to topple the govt

Leaders of different political parties, allegedly involved with Hefajat-e-Islam, hatched conspiracies with the Qawmi madrasa-based organisation to topple the government in 2013 and March this year, investigators have said.

They said the parties had their own agenda and tried to use Hefajat as cover.

Even though Hefajat claims it is a non-political organisation, many of its leaders are affiliated with different political parties, Mahbub Alam, joint commissioner of the Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said yesterday.

Using madrasa students as shields, Hefajat leaders were carrying out subversive activities to gain power, he said.

Mahbub said these leaders conspired in 2013 to oust the government through Hefajat.

Similar efforts were made through violence centring the Indian prime minister's visit in the country in March this year, he said.

The DB official was talking to reporters at his office regarding their findings after the arrest of at least 15 top Hefajat leaders.

Detectives are investigating at least 65 cases -- 53 filed following Hefajat's mayhem in 2013 and 12 filed for violence in March this year.

"Citing information given by the arrested leaders", DB officials claimed that most of the leaders thought that Hefajat was the only effective platform to go to power, using madrasa students as shields.

"They want to turn Bangladesh into a country like Pakistan or Afghanistan if they come to power," he claimed.

Mahbub added that BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami leaders were also involved in the conspiracy in 2013 and March this year.

He said Hefajat leaders formed an organisation called "Rabetatul Waizin Bangladesh" with its leaders from across the country. They would control Waz Mehfils by forcing organisers to invite their speakers.

"A group of Hefajat leaders are involved in propagating extremism. Police are trying to identify them by scrutinising footages," said Mahbub.

To interrogate the arrestees, three teams have been formed with investigating officers who have knowledge on the Quran and Hadiths. They were trying to learn about the leaders' main purpose and identify their roles.

Asked about Hefajat's funding, the joint commissioner said most of the money comes from abroad and police were trying to identify the sources.

"The operation will continue until all the accused involved are arrested," he added.

HEFAJAT REMOVING FOOTAGE

As law enforcers were facing difficulties collecting evidence in the cases filed following Hefajat's mayhem in 2013, as several years have passed, charges of probe of some recent and old cases were handed over to specialised police units.

Responsibilities of around 23 investigations were given to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and 16 to Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) recently.

However, these agencies were not able to collect any significant footage or forensic evidence.

Banaj Kumar Majumder, chief of PBI, told The Daily Star that they have started collecting footage of the mayhem and anti-state remarks by Hefajat leaders.

But officials said the video and audio clips related to the violence were being removed from various social media sites, while the CCTV cameras covering the violence have been smashed.

Even videos of different waz mehfils, in which Hefajat leaders made anti-state remarks, were not available, they added.

Many Hefajat supporters have already started removing the videos, Banaj said.

"But we are trying to collect all those clips and archiving those so that we can provide forensic and technical evidence," said the PBI chief.

Mahbubur Rahman, additional inspector general, also chief of CID, said their officials were trying to collect footage of the violence but it had become difficult.

He sought further support from the media.

ARRESTS CONTINUE

As a part of a continuous drive, police yesterday arrested a dozen more Hefajat leaders and supporters, including Nayeb-e-Amir Ahmed Abdul Kader.

A team of DMP DB (Tejgaon Division) arrested Kader, also former president of Chhatra Shibir, from West Agargaon around 7:00pm yesterday.

Mahmud Ullah, 26, son of Madaripur Pir Abdul Hamid, and a juvenile have been arrested from Satkhira for their alleged involvement in Hefajat violence, reports our Munshiganj correspondent.

Besides, seven more Hefajat supporters were arrested in cases filed for violence in Brahmanbaria. The total arrests in the district is 353, reports our correspondent.

Meanwhile, Md Ashraf Ali, central assistant secretary of Islami Chhatra Khelafat, on Friday made a confessional statement in a case filed over the attack on police on March 27 in Brahmanbaria.

AHLE SUNNAT'S CONDEMNATION OF HEFAJAT

Terming Hefajat-e Islam an extremist and militant outfit, the top 551 alam-ulemas of Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat yesterday in a statement called upon the government to ban the organisation.

In a joint statement, Ahle Sunnat leaders said since its birth in 2010, Hefajat has been involved in spreading violence.

"Sometimes they are threatening to demolish Khanka Sharif and the shrines of Islamic preachers and sometimes they want to establish extremist militancy in the country by publicly threatening to kill the country's majority," they said.

The signatories to the statement include Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat Bangladesh Central Chairman Kazi Muhammad Mueenuddin Ashrafi, Secretary General Syed Moshiuddaulah, MA Mannan, Solaiman Ansari, Abdul Bari, MA Manna, Nurul Alam, among others.