The Rapid Action Battalion claims of foiling several terror attacks in Dhaka by banned terror outfit Ansar-al-Islam.
In a media briefing on Thursday (May 24), the elite police unit said they have arrested seven ‘active operatives’ of the group during raids at different parts of Dhaka.
Dhaka-based RAB 3 chief Lt Col Emranul Hasan said that they have seized a huge amount of explosives, bomb-making materials and jihadist literature during the raids in capital’s Mugda, Jatrabari and Badda early morning Thursday.
Those held include Mahibur Rahman and Ershadul Haque, teachers at the Bloomfield International School and College in Dhaka’s Baridhara, according to him.
RAB claimed Muhibur to be one of the key coordinators of the terror group. “He was also involved in planning operations while Ershad was in charge of recruiting and worked to motivate the operatives,” said senior RAB officer Hasan.
Initial interrogations revealed that the group was planning multiple attacks across the Dhaka city, he added.
Suspected terrorists Kamal Uddin and Sifat, who were arrested on Thursday, were explosive experts of the group, according to RAB.
The others arrested during the raids have been identified as Didarul Islam, Rifatullah Sabbir Khan and Sheetal Mia, said the elite police unit.
After the Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) terror episode, no significant activities of the radical Islamist groups were seen until the murder of blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider in 2013.
In February that year, the Ganajagaran Mancha activist Rajib was hacked to death near his home in Dhaka.
The murder came within 10 days of the Ganajagaran Mancha's movement demanding the highest punishment to the war criminals.
The organisation’s chief Mufti Jasimuddin Rahmani is serving a jail term for the murder of Rajib. Two of his followers have been sentenced to death, one to life in prison and four others to different terms for killing the blogger.
Police say after Anasarullah Bangla Team (ABT) was banned in May 2015, its members regrouped under the banner of Ansar al-Islam.
Investigators suspect sacked Bangladesh Army major Ziaul Haque, who masterminded a coup to topple the Hasina government in January 2012, is involved with the group, which reportedly claims to be the Bangladesh offshoot of al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS).
Police also suspect the group was involved in several militant attacks and murders, including that of writer-blogger Avijit Roy.