7 held in Ctg for 'link with militancy'

A number of suspected militants of Dawat-e-Islami arrested at Naju Mia Lane of Patharghata in Chittagong yesterday.Photo: STAR

Police and Rab in a raid held seven members of Pakistan-based Islamic organisation Dawat-e-Islami from Patharghata area yesterday 'on suspicion of their link with militant activities.'
They are Sohel Tahery, Mozammel Attary, Kalimullah Qadery, Mahmudul Hasan alias Mehmud Attary, Boshar Attary, Nurul Azim Attary and Faruk Attary.
Acting on a tip-off, police and Rab men raided Najumia Lane of Patharghata at about 12:00 noon and detained them from a flat.
Nine passports, four computers, one scanner and one printer, a number of CDs and VCDs, several booklets and leaflets on teaching of Islam and some documents were also seized during the raid.
However, no document related to militancy was found in the seized items till examining of those items at 4pm, police said.
DC (North) of CMP Banaj Kumar Mazumdar said they were held 'on suspicion of their involvement in militant activities.'
Claiming the organisation truly religious-based organisation, arrestee Nurul Azim said the organisation started its activities in Bangladesh in 1985 and now covers 22 districts of the country and around 70 countries.
On July 7, 2006, police arrested ten members of the organisation, including a Pakistani citizen, from Jhalakathi district but they were released later, DC Banaj said referring to a document, seized yesterday.
Locals said the members rented the flat 13 months back while they used to speak about Islam in a nearby mosque every Thursday.