7 Hizbut Tawhid men held in Rajshahi

Police arrested seven Hizbut Tawhid activists including four women from Budhpara in Rajshahi city and seized leaflets, books on jihad and CDs from their possession yesterday.Photo: STAR

Police yesterday arrested seven activists, four of them women, of Islamist outfit Hizbut Tawhid with around 200 books, CDs and leaflets from the city's Budhpara area under Rajpara police station.
Locals caught them and informed police that the militant suspects were distributing books, CDs and leaflets on jihad, said Shakhawat Hossain, an assistant commissioner of Rajshahi Metropolitan Police (RMP).
Shakhawat quoting locals said, the arrestees were asking people to join their outfit to wage jihad against 'Dazzal' that has descended on earth to destroy Islam.
The arrestees include Mina Begum, 45, her daughter-in-law Nasima Begum, 21, Shikha Parveen, 22, and Doly Khatun, 22, of Baje Kajla area, Muhamamd Islam, 19, of Kajla in the city and Muhammad Shafik, 20, of Jahazghat and Shahabul Islam, 30, of Jhikra of Charghat upazila.
The title of books and CDs were 'Dazzal' while inscriptions on some CDs describe, why one should join Hizbut Tawhid, police said.
The arrestees admitted that they are activists of Hizbut Tawhid led by Bayazid Khan Panni of Tangail.
Shahabul, a vegetable-seller by profession told police that they were caught while selling the books and CDs and distributing leaflets to locals in Budhpara and Choddopai areas.
Shafik told reporters that the shop of Renaissance Thai Aluminum at Shaheb Bazar was being used as their meeting place in the city for last several months.
The arrestees claimed that their outfit is not banned. Police were just interrogating them at the police station, they said.
Sources said, the outfit is operating freely across the country, although it has records of militancy, clashes with locals and police at different places since 2003.
According to our Satkhira correspondent, an accused arrested on September 14 in Faridpur for distributing leaflets urging people to join 'jihad' against those who reject Islamic rule in the country was placed on a five-day remand yesterday.
However, the court ordered the investigation officer (IO) of the case to interrogate accused Satkhira Law College vice-principal Rabiul Islam Khan at Satkhira jail gate.
Earlier, Sadar PS officer-in-charge (OC) Shah Jahan Khan, the investigation officer (IO) of the case, produced him before the Chief Judicial Magistrate's Court with a prayer for seven-day remand on September 16.
The court fixed on September 26 for hearing of the prayer, court sources said.
Judge AHM Samsul Arefin of the Chief Judicial Magistrate's Court yesterday passed the order after a long hearing.