Four Hefazat leaders were arrested from different parts of the country on Wednesday.
In Netrokona’s Kendua upazila, member of Hefazat-e-Islam's dissolved central committee leader Maulana Abdul Qaium was arrested from a madrasa, confirmed district Detective Branch (DB) Officer-in-Charge (OC Khandaker Saker Ahmed.
Abdul Qaium was the director general of the Malni Jamia Hussainiya Madrasa in Netrokona, reports UNB.
OC Khandaker Saker Ahmed said Maulana Abdul Qaium was the accused in the case filed in connection with the 2013 Hefazat violence in Narayanganj's Sonargaon.
A court arrest warrant was pending against him in that case for a long time, he added.
File photo of Maulana Abdul Qaium UNB
From Dhaka’s Demra area, police arrested Hefazat-e-Islam joint secretary general of Dhaka metropolitan (zone 10) Md Mufti Faisal Mahmud Habibi.
A team of Mirpur DB police arrested him around 4 pm.
He worked as the Khatib of Medina Chattar Central Jame Mosque in Demra and lived on Badsha Mia road of the area.
From Dhaka’s Vatara area, police arrested Hefazat-e-Islam leader Md Mufti Habibullah Mahmud Kashemi in a case over 2013 Shapla Chattar violence.
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Md Azharul Islam Mukul, chief of Demra zonal team, conducted a drive around 5:20pm and arrested him, said Md A Ahad, deputy commissioner, Detective Branch, Wari.
In Chittagong's Lalkhan Bazar area, members of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested Hefazat-e-Islam leader Mufti Harun Izhar from a madrasa on Wednesday midnight.
Mufti Harun Izhar was the education and cultural secretary of the just defunct Hefazat-e-Islam and son of Mufti Izhar, said Enamul Hasan, press secretary of the party’s convening committee.
File photo of Mufti Harun Izhar Focus Bangla
A team of the elite force conducted a drive at Jamiatul Ulum Al Islamia Madrasa around midnight and arrested Harun Izhar.
He was wanted in eleven cases and had served in jail in a case filed over the grenade attack in Lalkhan Bazar Madrasa that left two students of the institute dead and several injured on October 7, 2013.
Earlier on October 9, 2013, Mufti Harun was arrested in connection with the explosion at the madrasa.
Mufti Harun Izhar also wanted in three more cases filed over Hefazat violence in Dhaka in 2013.
Many Hefazat leaders have been arrested in the country recently following the vandalism and arson attacks carried out by its activists across the country protesting against the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi marking the celebration of golden jubilee of the country’s independence last month.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal on Wednesday said, "As per our investigation, Hefazat-e-Islam carried out violence with an aim to repeat the incident of Shapla Chattar it unleashed in 2013."