Law enforcers on Friday claimed to have arrested a top leader of banned militant outfit Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami Bangladesh (Huji-B), who was working to recruit Rohingyas in exchange for donations.
The arrestee, Fakhrul Islam, had visited Afghanistan, and met with al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Omar while taking training on sophisticated arms.
Fakhrul, 58, and his son Saiful Islam, 24, visited the Rohingya camps several times. They were planning to conduct training of the Huji members in Bandarban.
The Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit of police arrested Fakhrul and five other members of the banned militant group from different parts of Dhaka on Friday.
CTTC chief Md Asaduzzaman briefed the media in this regard at DMP Media Center Friday.
The other arrestees are Din Islam, 25 aSuruzzaman, 45, Abdullah Al Mamun, 46, and Mohammad Abdullah Al Mamun, 46.
During the drives, the law enforcers also seized nine mobile phone sets from their possession, said Md Asaduzzaman.
Focus Bangla“Huji-B lost its leadership when several high-ranking members including its chief Mufti Hannan were arrested. However, Fakhrul Islam took the steer. He has been collecting funds and conducting ‘Dawat' activities through social media,” he said.
Fakhrul, who was a security guard at Tamirul Millat Madrasa in Gazipur, went to Pakistan in 1988 where he met a Bangladeshi-born al-Qaeda commander Mufti Jakir Hossain.
Later, Fakhrul went to Afghanistan with Mufti Jakir several times and took arms training, he said.
During the training, Fakhrul learned use of various firearms including AK-47, LMG, rocket launcher and other heavy weapons.
He then met al-Qaeda leader Laden and Taliban founder Mullah Omar, the CTTC chief added.
He returned to Karachi, Pakistan after completing jihadi training in Afghanistan. From Karachi, he went to Tehran, the capital of Iran in 1995 and returned to Karachi after staying there for about three years. Fakhrul returned to Bangladesh in 1998.
Besides, Hafez Md Abdullah Al Mamun ran a social media group by using encrypted apps to communicate among themselves, Asaduzzaman said.
He also created a YouTube channel where he shared extremism-provoking contents including bomb-making manuals and videos to other members, MD Asaduzzaman said in the briefing.
A case under the Anti-Terrorism Act was lodged against the arrestees, the CTTC chief added.
