Huji men being trained in Pakistan
In an effort to revive the activities of outlawed Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (Huji), some of its operatives have taken military training from Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba in the last two years, and recently come back home to groom co-jihadists, the Detective Branch (DB) of police said yesterday.
The operatives received two months' training in Pakistan and Pakistan-Afghanistan border area, the DB said, after interrogation of three Huji operatives who were arrested in the capital's Postogola Saturday night.
The three--Md Abdullah, Md Redwan, and Shafiqul Islam alias Ripon--were working under the command of Huji leader Rafique Ahmed alias Sajid, said Joint Commissioner Monirul Islam of DB of Dhaka Metropolitan Police in a briefing at DMP media centre.
On October 25, a DB team arrested Rafique and three other Huji men and unearthed a laboratory at Fatullah in Narayanganj, which Huji was using to "make powerful bombs", detectives said earlier.
The information given by the four led to the arrest of the trio. Of them, Abdulalh and Redwan were preparing to travel to Pakistan to receive training, said Monirul.
Abdullah gave his passport to Rafique, which detectives seized during his arrest, for getting visa, while Redwan's passport with visa is now in another's hand, he added. DB is trying to arrest that person, he said.
Abdullah and Redwan studied at a Qawmi madrasa in Narayanganj and were garment workers while Ripon worked at the laboratory busted by detectives.
Monirul said around six to seven Huji members had already taken training in Pakistan in the last two years and returned to the country.
Detectives said only Huji men took training abroad while the members of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) Ansarullah Bangla Team trained locally.
Huji is trying to regroup after the recent muscle-flexing by militant groups in several countries, they said.
Monirul yesterday reiterated that the banned militant outfits of the country are trying to unite under a common platform, Bangladesh Jihadi Group, with plans to attack major cities and eminent personalities.
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