‘I realised my mistake’
He had left home along with seven youths of Cumilla to join the newly-formed militant group "Jamatul Ansar Fil Hindal Sharqiya". But at one point, he realised his mistake.
Sartaz Islam alias Niloy (22), who was persuaded into militancy by his cousin, escaped from Patuakhali during "hijrat" and returned home.
In Islam, hijrat generally means "to give up one's own land" or "to migrate from one place to another place" mostly for the sake of faith.
At a press briefing yesterday, Rapid Action Battalion disclosed the information about arresting seven people, including four youths who went missing from their homes in Cumilla and elsewhere. They were suspected to have ties with radical groups.
Sartaz was present at the Rab media centre. He told reporters, "I was in hijrat for four to five days. Eventually, I came to realise that I was on the wrong path. Before doing anything, we should know about the consequences. Don't make mistakes like mine."
Sartaz was one of the eight young men who went missing in Cumilla on August 23. He returned to his Kalyanpur home on September 1.
"Later, Rab took him into custody. Following interrogation, the law enforcers came to know details of others," Commander Khandaker Al Moin, director of Rab's legal and media wing, told the briefing.
In CCTV footage of different locations, four youths were seen leaving Cumilla with bags. They were also traced to a residential hotel in Cumilla and Chandpur Railway Station.
The youths had left their homes to join the newly-formed militant group, said the Rab official.
"The outfit started its activities in 2017. In 2019, it was officially formed. Some leaders and activists of banned militant groups of Bangladesh, including JMB, Ansar al Islam and Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami Bangladesh, joined in to start activities," he claimed.
Tipped off, a team of Rab-11 conducted drives in Munshiganj, Narayanganj and Mymensingh districts and arrested the seven on Wednesday.
The arrestees are Hussain Ahmed (33), a Madrasa teacher in Patuakhali; Nesar Uddin alias Umayer (34), a scientific officer at a government office in Bhola; Boni Amin (27), a computer sales and service provider; Imtiaz Ahmed Rifat (19), a first-year honour's student from Cumilla; Md Sabit (19), a storekeeper at a press in Uttara; Hasibul Islam (20) and Roman Sikder (24).
Hussain, Nesar and Boni are the group's recruiters. Rifat and Hasib left their homes in Cumilla on August 23; Roman left Gopalganj a month ago; and Sabit left the capital's Uttara two months back, Moin said.
During primary interrogation, the arrestees revealed that Hasib and Rifat came to know about the organisation from a mosque imam in Cumilla a year ago. Later, the imam persuaded them to get involved in extremist activities.
The Rab director said the recruits received physical and organisational training in remote char areas. So far, 15 to 20 people have joined the new group.
The seven students, aged 17 to 25 and belonging to different institutions in Cumilla, have been missing since August 23. They all know each other, and left home without their mobile phones.
Later, reports came to light of seven more youths missing from Patuakhali, Dhaka, Narayanganj and Gopalganj for two to three months under similar circumstances.
Besides, four youths from Sylhet have been missing since July last year.
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