20,000 Tahrir men active in country

Hizb ut-Tahrir Bangladesh has about 20,000 leaders and activists across the country, detained Mohiuddin Ahmed, the chief of the banned Islamist outfit, told interrogators yesterday.
The organisation spends Tk 3 lakh a month, collecting the amount from its members to conduct its activities, he said.
Meanwhile, the organisation's second-in-command, Kazi Morshedul Huq, arrested on Tuesday night in the capital's Mohammadpur, was placed on a three-day remand yesterday.
Three other outfit members, arrested in Uttara on April 17, were placed on a fresh two-day remand.
On the first day of a three-day remand, Mohiuddin, an assistant professor of the Institute of Business Administration of Dhaka University, said he was resolute to establish Khilafat through a revolution in the country despite the ban on his outfit.
Nisarul Arif, deputy commissioner of Uttara division told The Daily Star, "Mohiuddin claimed that he had no contact with other outfit members since it was banned on October 22 last year. But other detained Hizb ut-Tahrir activists said they continued their activities at Mohiuddin's directives."
Nisarul said Mohiuddin also denied having links with any militant organisation or any financier at home or abroad.
Hizb ut-Tahrir does not receive any fund from any organisation at home or abroad as the outfit's members pay subscriptions for conducting its activities, Mohiuddin told the interrogators.
About 90 percent of the outfit members are students while the rest are professionals, he said.
However, sources said the organisation has close ties with banned outfits JMB, Harkatul Jihad al Islami and Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed.