The Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit has arrested five operatives of Neo-JMB, an offshoot of the banned militant outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh, in the Bashundhara Residential Area of Dhaka, whom law enforcers claimed was planning attacks on police.
The CTTC unit identified them as the members of neo-JMB’s ‘Wolf Pack’. They are Mohammad Shibli Shahazad alias Sadi, Shah M Asadullah Murtaza Kabir alias Ababil, Mashrik Ahmed, Ashraful Al Amin Alias Tarek and SM Tasnim Rifat. Two of them were students of North South University.
Based on secret information that the ‘Wolf Pack’ was planning attacks on police, on Friday (Aug 9), chief and DMP Additional Commissioner Monirul Islam said at a media brief that police had able to foil their plans and arrest them in Bashundhara Residential area on Thursday (Aug 8) afternoon.
The law enforcers also found the pack members in possession of explosives which bore similarity with the IED seized recently at Khamarbari and Paltan areas.
The ‘Wolf Pack’ had become radicalised at the instigation of certain extremist groups online and were hatching plans with organisations operating in and outside the country to carry out attacks on the police, said Monirul Islam.
The ‘Wolf Pack’ was a sleeper cell-like structure that acted as the lone wolf and had been planning to operate in small groups in an effort to take Global Jihad forward.
Among them, Sadi had become involved in extremist activities through his connections with Basarujjaman Chocolate who was known for his involvement with the Holey Artisan Attack.
According to the law enforcers, the gang had been trying to collect funds for the attack through the dark web in cryptocurrency.
The arrested revealed the names of others whom the police were trying to trace while all police units across the country have been alerted through the headquarters about the information obtained from them.
CTTC unit Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Saiful Islam said that Ababil had become self-radicalised online and later formed the ‘Wolf Pack’ after becoming acquainted with the others through Mashrik at North South University.
These groups targeted the police force mainly because of the arrests or killings of other extremists in continued police drives after the Holey Artisan attack.
CTTC Additional Deputy Commissioner Touhidul Islam said that the arrested had been sent to court, seeking a 10-day remand for each in police custody.
The police force has come under extremist attacks at least four times this year, including two attacks at Gulistan and Malibagh where several police personnel were injured.