The Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has arrested four individuals linked to the Pakistani militant outfit Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
A Dhaka court today placed all four on a four-day remand for interrogation.
The arrestees were identified as Md Imran Chowdhury, 29; Md Mostakim Chowdhury, 25; Ripon Hossain Sheikh, 28; and Abu Bakar, 25. Among them, Imran and Mostakim are siblings.
According to DB sources, the Ramna division of DB arrested them after conducting drives in various parts of Dhaka. During the drives, firearms, bullets, explosives, and a drone were seized.
Speaking to The Daily Star this evening, DB chief and Additional Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Shafiqul Islam said the arrestees are members of an extremist outfit named “ARSA”, which follows the ideology of the Pakistani militant group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) is widely known as a Rohingya militant group.
However, when asked whether those arrested were linked to that group, the DB chief said they had no connection with the Rohingya group.
“It has no connection with the Rohingya. It is a new organisation connected with TTP,” he said.
Meanwhile, police filed a case against them under the Anti-Terrorism Act with Kamrangirchar Police Station. Later, the accused were produced before a court with a seven-day remand prayer.
Following the hearing, Magistrate Aminul Islam Junaed of Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Court placed the arrestees on a four-day remand for interrogation.
According to the case statement, Imran was arrested from a house in the Koylaghat area near Tara Mosque in Kamrangirchar around 3:00am on Tuesday. Later, Mostakim was arrested from Keraniganj's Jianagar area early Tuesday, while Ripon and Abu Bakar were arrested following a raid in Kamrangirchar on Tuesday afternoon.
During the drives, law enforcers recovered a foreign-made pistol, a one-shooter gun, 14 rounds of bullets, several bullet shells, multiple smartphones, a metal detector, a drone and drone-related equipment, military uniform fabrics, and various books and leaflets on jihadi ideology.
The first information report (FIR) said the arrestees were operating with the "intention of preventing the Bangladesh government or any other state from carrying out its duties." It also noted that they had gathered the equipment to create panic among the public.
