Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested three people including the ameer of the new armed group Jama'atul Ansar Fil Hindal Sharqiya from Munshiganj's Louhajang in an early morning raid on Monday.
Commander Khandaker Al Moin, director of RAB's legal and media wing, confirmed the information.
He said three members including Ameer Md Anisur Rahman alias Mahmud of Jama'atul Ansar Fil Hindal Sharqiya have been arrested. The names of the other two are yet to be released.
During this time, local and foreign firearms, bomb-making equipment, extremist pamphlets, and cash were seized from their possession.
CollectedThe RAB official said the details would be presented in the press conference organized at the RAB media centre in Kawran Bazar of the capital at 11:30am on Monday.
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Dubbed an initiative to free the imprisoned spiritual leaders of militant groups and Islamic clerics, the armed group Jama'atul Ansar Fil Hindal Sharqiya was formed in 2017 with support from the now-waned banned militant outfits, which are responsible for hundreds of deadly attacks in the last 30 years.
Law enforcers say Jama'atul Ansar gained a foothold in 2019. Two years later, its leaders joined hands with the Kuki-Chin National Front (KNF), a separatist group in Bandarban, to get the militants trained in using assault rifles and making Improvised Explosive Devices (IED).
The activities of Jama'atul Ansar came to light in October 2022, when the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) was investigating the disappearance of seven youths from Comilla. Later, a list of 55 trainees, mostly students from across the country, was discovered.
Since then, most of the leaders and trained members of Jama'atul Ansar and the KNF have been arrested during drives by the joint forces and the police's RAB and Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crimes (CTTC) in the hills. Law enforcers also raided Rohingya camps in Cox's Bazar and arrested two key leaders of Jama'atul Ansar.