The Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit arrested a dismissed Bangladesh Army member from the Islamnagar area of No 5 Shahjadpur union under the Barlekha police station area in Moulvibazar district early Friday over his alleged links to the banned Islamist outfit Neo-Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh.
A team of CTTC’s Counter Terrorism Investigation Division in a raid arrested him at about 1:50am on Friday, said a Dhaka Metropolitan Police press release.
The sacked army personnel, Rahed Hossain Mahed, a resident of Sylhet, is a suspect in a case filed with the Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police station in the Dhaka city in February, the release said quoting CTTC officials.
Referring to the preliminary investigation, the CTTC said that Rahed was an active member of the banned outfit Neo-JMB, while the DMP later said in another statement that he had been inspired by banned Dawlatul Islam Neo-JMB.
CTTC Counter Terrorism Investigation Division additional deputy commissioner Main Uddin Chowdhury said that they produced Rahed before a Dhaka metropolitan magistrate court on Friday afternoon, and the court granted a three-day remand for him in CTTC custody.
On April 27, security was heightened at the country’s eight airports, including the three international airports, amid risks of extremist attacks.
The police have strengthened surveillance and security amid risks of attacks by banned extremist organisations on important state establishments, places of worship, recreation centres and the capital’s Shahbagh crossing.
Possible targets also include key state installations such as the Jatiya Sangsad, as well as police and army establishments and their personnel, according to a Police Headquarters letter signed by a deputy inspector general (confidential) on April 23.
The letter said that the police had received information that two dismissed army personnel had been in regular contact with a recently arrested member of a banned extremist outfit, Ishtiaque Ahmed, also known as Sami and Abu Bakar.
CTI Division ADC Main Uddin Chowdhury said that the arrested suspect Rahed had been communicating with Abu Bakar.
‘All the suspects are maintaining a group called Dawlatul Islam and following the same ideology. We will interrogate him in custody and will then be able to learn more,’ said Main, adding that they could not identify anyone as an active member before completing the investigation.
Quoting Barlekha police station officer-in-charge Moniruzzaman Khan, New Age’s staff correspondent in Sylhet reported that the police were on alert after the Police Headquarters issued a warning on April 23 about suspected attacks on important installations in the country.
Moniruzzaman said that based on secret information, they knew that Rahed had been in hiding since the red alert was issued and he was trying to flee to India by crossing the Bangladesh-India border along the Barlekha upazila.
