Members of law enforcement agencies on Sunday arrested nine persons, including eight for allegedly having ties with banned militant outfits Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh and Ansar al-Islam Bangladesh, from Natore, Rangpur and Barisal.
In Barisal, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) detained one JMB member, including a huge quantity of jihadi books and bullets confirm RAB 8 Senior Assistant Director Hasan Ali.
The detainee, Atikur Rahman Shawon, 24, is a resident of the Talabhanga Raibhog area of the Barguna Sadar Upazila.
Atiqur Rahman is a member of the militant unit of JMB, the banned organization.
Hasan Ali said based on a tip-off, a RAB team conducted a drive in the Ekota Memorial area of Zia road on Sunday afternoon.
RAB seized a foreign pistol, two empty magazines, 6 rounds of bullets, 355 different jihadi leaflets and a huge amount of Islamic jihadi books.
RAB said that other JMB members, Nurul Islam, Al Amin, Abdul Aziz, Mahbubur Rahman, Abul Kalam, Manik Islam, Abdullah, who were with Atikur Rahman at the time, fled the scene.
Atiqur has been organizing secret meetings with his colleagues in different areas of the Barisal, Pirojpur, Bagerhat, Barguna, Patuakhali and Jhalakathi districts to strengthen the militant outfit.
RAB officials are preparing to file the case with Barisal Kotwali Police Station.
In Natore, RAB has arrested five JMB members along with the unit leader, from the Bhabanipur area of the Baraigram upazila, confirms the district’s RAB acting Company Commander Assistant Superintendent of Police Ajmal Hossain
ASP Ajmal said based on a tip-off; a team of RAB members conducted a drive in the Bhabanipur area of the district around 1:20am.
According to sources, some JMB members were supposed to gather there for a secret meeting.
He said they arrested three members in the drive and later based on the information given by them, RAB arrested another two.
The arrestees are- Mawlana Zubayer Hossain, 35, Mostafizur Rahman alias Farhad, 36, Ala Uddin alias Abbas, 38, Ashraful Islam, 32, and Zakaria Sarker.
"We conducted a drive in the Ruiyer Bhag area in the Sadar upazila on July 19 and arrested three JMB members named Jahidul, Amjad and Zahir.
"On interrogation, we found out that JMB members have been divided into various units to reorganize themselves in different districts. Therefore, we increased our intelligence surveillance," ASP Ajmal said.
RAB seized seven jihadi books, three leaflets, four mobile phones with five SIM cards, two memory cards, a national ID card, two torchlights, three candles, one gaslight, two newspapers, a polythene sheet and Tk924 from the spot.
Responding to query, Ajmal claimed Zubayer is the "Gayere Ehsar" of the Dagachhi unit. He had physical training and knows about weapons and was in charge of recruiting new members.The others recruited members and distributed jihadi books and leaflets in their respective areas.
The arrestees had regular contacts with the JMB members in jail, the ASP added.
In Rangpur, RAB 13 arrested three militants, as well the amir of Ansar-al-Islam, from Lalmonirhat.
The news was confirmed in a press briefing at RAB 13 office in the Rangpur station area in the afternoon.
The arrestees are- Mehedi Saddam Hossain Shabuj, chief of the Ansar-al-Islam unit, and JMB members Pepel and Ruhul Amin, confirms RAB 13 Commanding Officer Additional DIG Mozammel Haque
He said based on a tip-off, a team of RAB members conducted a drive and arrested Shabuj, from a house in the Bhotmari village of the Kaliganj Thana.
A foreign-made gun with two rounds of bullets along with numerous jihadi books and leaflets were recovered from the scene.
Meanwhile, the two JMB militants, Pepel and Ruhul Amin, were arrested from the Patgram upazila station area, and a foreign-made gun as well as various jihadi books and leaflets were recovered from their possession.
The commanding officer said the militants gathered there to attempt sabotage.
In the last two months, 12 JMB members were arrested from the Patgram upazila. The militants who had been trying to reorganize their groups would be eliminated, he added.