Police arrested 15 suspected operatives of the banned militant outfit Hizbut-Tahrir in Chittagong yesterday.
The arrested are: Abul Md ErshadulAlam, 39, Abdullah Al Mahfuz, 30, Imtiaz Ismail, 25, Nasir Uddin Chowdhury, 22, Nazmul Huda, 27, LokmanGani, 29,Md Karim, 27, Abdullah Al Munim, 22, Kamrul Hasan Rana, 20, Ariful Islam, 20, Azim Uddin, 31, Farhan Bin Farid alias Rafi, 23, Azimul Huda, 24, Walid Bin Azim, 18, and Samrat, 22.
Additional Commissioner Amena Begum confirmed the matter at a press briefing at CMP headquarters.
A court sent Abul Md ErshadulAlam, suspected regional chief of the outfit, to remand for five days, while the others were remanded for three days.
Police apprehended two members of the outfit in front of the city’s Andarkilla Shahi Jame Mosque on Friday when they were distributing leaflets to devotees after Jumma prayers.
Based on their information, police later detained 13 others.
CMP members conducted overnight drives in five areas of the port city and apprehended them, police said.
Police also recovered Tk2.82 lakh in cash, party flags, leaflets, press statements, training manuals, two laptops, electronic devices, and a motorcycle during the drives.
AC Amena said it was very alarming that the militants were targeting young people, particularly students for recruitment.
“We have already formed the Student Community Policing Forum in most of the educational institutions of the city to counter radicalization. It is a matter of concern that the arrestees include some students who used to go out of their houses for private coaching lessons. The authorities of educational institutions should have monitoring of their teaching staff as well,” she added.