A court in Dhaka has remanded a suspected top leader of banned outfit Harkat-ul Jihad al-Islami Bangladesh (HujiB) and his two accomplices for four days in an anti-Terrorism Act case.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Ashek Imam granted the remand after police produced the trio in it seeking 10 days in remand, General Register Office (GRO) of the court Rafat Ara Sultana told Bangla Tribune.
Those who face remand are HujiB leader Atiqullah alias Asadullah alias Zulfiqar, 49, and his two aides Mohammad Nazim Uddin alias Shamim, 45, and Borhan Uddin Rabbani, 42.
On Wednesday (Oct 2), a team of Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit arrested the trio from the Boro Mosque Math near the capital’s Nikunja 1.
"During primary interrogation police learned that Atiqullah has a connection with militant groups in other countries, including Pakistan, Dubai and Saudi Arabia,” DMP Deputy Commissioner (Media) Masudur Rahman told the media after the arrest.
Atiqullah “was a part of multiple meetings held with top militant leaders, including Osama bin Laden, Mullah Omar, Ayman al-Zawahiri, during the war in Afghanistan" he added.
Atiqullah also informed the police that he is an Afghan return fighter and bomb specialist. After a long period of exile abroad, he returned to Bangladesh in March this year and had been trying to contact the old members to reorganize the group.
He also had been trying to recruit new members to speed up the HujiB's activities in the upcoming days.
According to the DC Masudur, Atiqullah also made organizational visits to various places of Bangladesh and raised money from both domestic and foreign sources, to mobilize the organization.
He went on saying that Atiqullah was an organizing secretary of the committee of the HujiB formed by Mufti Hannan in 1996, and later was responsible for BaitulMal and International Relations Department.
During the last caretaker government, he fled to Saudi Arabia via Dubai, hid, and visited Pakistan multiple times for militant activities.
The other arrestee Najim is a secretary of HujiB Dhaka Metropolitan South unit, and Rabbani was given the responsibility to handle Feni district.
"Recently, they were trying to reorganize the group centring Kashmir and the Rohingya issues," said DC Masud.
Later, a case was filed against the trio with Khilkhet police station under the Anti-Terrorism Act.
On Oct 17, 2005, the government banned HujiB for carrying out militant activities.