9 Ansarullah men remanded

Detectives produce nine activists of Ansarullah Bangla Team, a militant group, at a press briefing at Media center of Dhaka Metropolitan Police in the city Sunday. Photo: Palash Khan

A Dhaka court on Sunday placed nine members of militant group Ansarullah Bangla Team on a five-day remand in a case filed under the anti-terrorism act.

The Detective Branch of police detained the militants at different parts of the capital and its adjoining areas between Saturday and early Sunday.

Three laptops, two computers, one video camera, a large number of books on jihad, arms training manual, magazines on the organisation, 25 compact disks (CDs) and nine modems were also seized from their possession.

The nine have been named as Kazi Rezwan, 30, Naimul Hasan, 28, Ali Azad, 28, Jahidul Islam, 27, Junnun Shikder, 27, Amirul Islam, 25, Abu Hanif, 23, Saiful Islam, 21, and Asadullah alias Abdullah alias Md Piyas, 19.

The law enforcers later filed the case with Mohammadpur Police Station under Section 11, 12 and 13 of the anti-terrorism act.

Metropolitan Magistrate Shahriar Mahmud Adnan passed the remand order after the detectives produced them before the court seeking 10 days' remand for each.

The arrestees are the members of information technology (IT) wing of the militant group, said Monirul Islam, joint commissioner of Detective Branch (DB) of police, at a press briefing at the media centre of Dhaka Metropolitan Police.

The police official said the detainees in primary interrogation admitted that Mufti Muhammad Jashimuddin Rahmani is their chief.

Their organisation believes in the ideology of al-Qaeda and Taliban, the joint commissioner added.

He said the detectives nabbed the militants by conducting raids at Mohammadpur, Green Road, Elephant Road, Zigatola and Badda in the capital and in Savar on the outskirts of the capital.