A court in Bangladesh recently granted bail to an insurgent with known ties with Rohingya separatist group Harakah al-Yaqin, allegedly responsible for an attack on Myanmar security force in October last year, and has been living in a refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar ever since.
Confirming the news, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said police arrested the insurgent, Manzurul Islam, 38, late last year.
Myanmar's armed forces launched a fierce counterinsurgency operation in response to the October attacks, during which more than 75,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh. Harakah al-Yaqin says it is fighting for the rights of 1.1m Rohingya who live in apartheid-like conditions in Myanmar.
However, Manzurul, a Islamic preacher by profession, denied any links to the insurgency in north-western Myanmar when he spoke to the news agency by telephone from the camp in Cox's Bazar.
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Two Bangladesh police sources, citing intelligence reports, had said Manzurul was a member of the Harakah al-Yaqin insurgent group that ambushed Myanmar police border posts in Rakhine state on October 9, killing nine officers.
"Since his entrance his movement was suspicious, so members of our security forces and law enforcement agencies monitored him closely," Kamal said, when asked about that information.
"They (security forces) also recorded his phone conversations secretly that showed he had some connections with illegal activities."
Kamal declined to give further details about Manzurul, who is on bail after spending three months in custody in Cox's Bazar. He also reiterated that Bangladesh would not allow its territory to be used by any militants.
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'Jungle training'
Manzurul was arrested from a market near the Kutupalong camp in Cox's Bazar on November 23, according to a police document.
Police believe he had trained some 30 refugees deep in the jungles near the camp for around two weeks before his arrest, said one of the police sources, who declined to be named given the sensitivity of the matter.
Myanmar's police did not respond to a request for comment. But a Myanmar security source said they were aware of Manzurul's presence in Bangladesh.
"Our department received information from the Bangladesh side and we are aware that the man is facing trial," said the source.
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Mnzurul said Bangladeshi security officials interrogated him for 10 days after his arrest, which he blamed on false information given to the authorities by unidentified enemies.
"They accused me of being involved in the insurgency in Myanmar. I told them I had no connection with any group," he said from Kutupalong, where he lives with his wife and five children.
"Nevertheless, they warned me not to get involved in anything wrong and then put me in jail for illegally entering Bangladesh."
Manzurul, originally from Taung Pyo village just across the border in Myanmar, was charged with entering Bangladesh without proper papers and released on bail on February 15, court documents show.
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Minister Kamal said there was insufficient evidence to charge him with further offences in Bangladesh.
"We've been continuing our dialogue with the Myanmar government, not only for Islam but for all the illegal entrants, as they are a major problem for us," Kamal said. "They are a burden which we can't afford."