‘Missing’ JU student turns out to be Neo-JMB bomb expert: Police

Counterterrorism officials claimed to have arrested three members of the militant group "Neo-JMB", including chief of its military wing and key bomb expert, from Dhaka's Kafrul area.

The arrestees are: Jahid Hasan Raju alias Ismail alias Furkan, the key explosives expert; Saiful Islam Maruf alias Bashira; and Rumman Hossain alias Fahad alias Abdullah.

A team of bomb disposal unit arrested them during a drive on Tuesday, Asaduzzaman, chief of Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit, told a press briefing at DMP media centre today.

However, Jahid's family on June 30 held a press conference and claimed that he went missing on June 24 after he left his Mirpur house to go to the mosque.

Asaduzzaman, also an additional commissioner of DMP, claimed that Jahid himself went into hiding to avoid arrest.

Born in an impoverished family in Barguna's Patharghata upazila, Jahid has completed his honour's degree but could not finish his master's from Jahangirnagar University.

After receiving an invitation from the militant group in 2016, he opened a Facebook ID under the name "White Houser Mufti" and joined the group through the then Ameer Musa, the CTTC official said.

As a student of chemistry, he gained expertise in bomb making and became the key explosives expert in shortest time. He has produced IEDs and remote controlled bombs and trained other members too, Asaduzzaman said.

Jahid had plans to work for a major chemical supply company and subsequently make IEDs, collecting explosives from there, CTTC officials said.

He was involved in the incidents of attacks on police and planting bombs in police boxes. He was also involved in a plan to carry out attacks on important installations and police boxes, by attaching bombs to drones, Asaduzzaman said. 

CTTC officials said Saiful was also a bomb expert who received training from Jahid. As per the group's decision, Saiful and Maruf took training in Bandarban and recently rented a house in Tongi to raise funds through mugging.

A case was filed with Kafrul Police Station in this regard.