The five arrestees are Mowlana Tajul Islam, Nazim Uddin, Hafez Abujar Gifari, Nure Alam and Iftesham Ahmed.
Families of Nazim Uddin, 42, of Jessore, Iftesham Ahmed Sami, 23, of Rangpur and Nure Alam of Nilphamari made the claims while speaking to the Dhaka Tribune on Friday after spotting them on TV channels and newspapers.
On December 7, RAB claimed to have busted a HujiB den in Chittagong city’s Colonel Hat area and detained five Huji men including three regional commanders. Two handguns, a significant amount of munitions, improvised explosive devices (IED) and bomb-making materials were also recovered from their possession.
‘Nazim Uddin was abducted from Dhaka’
Nazma Aktar, wife of Nazim Uddin, said: “A few people, identifying themselves as DB police, picked up my husband from Dhaka’s Mirpur area on May 18. He travelled there to meet a friend.
“We looked for him in all possible places in vain. Then we went to Pallabi and Bhatara police stations to file a case. Neither Pallabi police nor Bhatara police registered a missing person’s case. However, Bhatara police filed a general diary of the incident.”
On July 11, 2016, four days after Eid-ul-Fitr, a bunch of police personnel came to their house to query about Nazim.
“We have provided all necessary information as asked in three separate phases,” said Nazma.
The government’s crackdown on the militants kicked off around that time after two back-to-back massive militant attacks – one on July 1 at the Holey Artisan Bakery in Gulshan, Dhaka, and the other nearby Sholakia Eidgah in Kishoreganj on Eid day, July 7.
Ruling out a claim of Nazim being an Afghan-train mujahideen, Nazma said: “I never heard so. And he never even addressed such issues or was engaged in any conversations regarding militancy, at least to my knowledge.”
Police recently published a list of militant leaders of Jessore. Nazim Uddin was listed as Naksha Nazim on that list.
Jessore Police Super Anisur Rahman said: “The Special Branch of police has confirmed that Nazim detained in Chittagong is Jessore’s Nazim Uddin.”‘Law enforcers picked up my son from hostel'
Iftesham Ahmed Sami, a third-year student of Rajshahi University’s English department, was picked up from a private dormitory near the university, his father Iftekhar Ahmed Inam told the Dhaka Tribune.
“Some plainclothes men who claimed to be law enforcers broke into Sami’s room and picked him up at 3am on April 30. I went to Boalia police station and filed a general diary,” he said.
Iftekhar Ahmed also claimed that Sami was neither involved with politics nor militancy.
“The then ASP Saklain, now working in DMP’s Counter Terrorism Unit, informed me that police conducted several investigations and found no evidence against Sami about his involvement in militancy,” he added.
Mentioning he saw Sami on TV while being detained by RAB in Chittagong on Thursday, Iftekhar Ahmed said: “I do not know how my son can be arrested as a militant.”'Nure Alam was abducted several months ago'
Nure Alam, son of one Abdul Kader alias Yakub Ali and a graduate student of Nilphamari Government College, was also allegedly abducted eight months ago from Nilphamari.
Some plainclothes men abducted Nure Alam from his residence in Ukiler Mor of Nilphamari on April 11, his family claimed.
His mother Nur Nahar filed a general diary with Nilphamari Sadar police station on April 12 and lodged a petition case with Nilphamari Chief Judicial Magistrate's Court on April 14 in this regard.
Nilphamari Sadar police station Officer-in-Charge Md Babul Akter said: “Nure Alam, who was arrested in Chittagong raid by RAB, has been identified by his family that this very Nure Alam went missing a few months back.”Huji men sent to jail, 3 cases filed
Meanwhile, a Chittagong court yesterday sent five suspected HujiB members to jail after police produced them before the court, reports our Chittagong correspondent.
Three cases were filed with Akbar Shah police station on Thursday night by RAB 7 Deputy Assistant Director Golam Rabbani under the Anti-Terrorism Act, Arms Act and Explosives Act, said police sources.
