Rab arrests 17 Tahrir activists

Rapid Action Battalion members in separate drives arrested 17 members of banned militant outfit Hizb-ut-Tahrir from different parts of the capital on Thursday night and yesterday.
A team of Rab-1, following a tip-off, conducted a drive in Nikunja Boro Masjid of Khilkhet around 1:30pm yesterday and arrested nine members of the outfit.
The arrestees were found to be holding anti-government rally and distributing leaflets containing anti-state statement among people of the area during the drive.
In another raid at Gandaria, Rab-10 personnel arrested four operatives of the outlawed party around 1:55pm while they were holding an anti-government rally.
The law enforcers also recovered leaflets and other publications of the banned organisation from their possession.
During the preliminary questioning, all the arrestees had admitted their involvement with the outfit, Rab officials said.
Around 11:30pm on Thursday, a team of Rab-2 conducted a drive at New Market area and arrested Dr Md Manirul Haque, 27.
Following information extracted from Manirul, Rab officials raided Mohammadpur and Dhanmondi areas early yesterday and captured three operatives of the outfit.
The elite force recovered a large number of jihadi books, magazines, leaflets, a laptop and a personal computer from their possession.
Raihan Uddin Khan, senior ASP of Rab-2, told The Daily Star that the arrestees had been carrying out organisational activities secretly for a long time.
“Recently, the outfit has been engaged in bringing out impromptu procession, pasting posters on walls and distributing leaflets. That is why we have strengthened our intelligence operations,” he said.
The activities of the banned outfit have not stopped though their top leaders are still behind bars, the ASP said.
The operatives have been conducting motivational activities targeting school, college and university students in a bid to increase the number of their members, he added.