Members of banned militant outfit Harkat-ul Jihad al-Islami Bangladesh (HujiB) were planning to bring out their detained leaders by conducting attack on prison vans when they are taken to court from jail.
They were gathering members with a view to carrying out massive destruction after the Eid-ul-Fitr to draw attention and seek support from the newly-floated international militant platform Al-Qaeda Indian Subcontinent (AQIS).
Police's elite force Rapid Action Battalion revealed the information following the arrest of a top leader and 11 other members of the group that came into being in early 1990s with the ultimate goal of launching a jihad and establish their form of Islamic rule in the country.
Acting on a tip-off, a team of RAB first arrested five HujiB members from Sadarghat area of the capital around 6:30am on Saturday. They were trying to leave the capital and heading for Barisal, Commander Mufti Mahmud Khan, director of legal and media wing, told reporters at a press conference Thursday.
The arrestees are Maulana Mainul Islam alias Mahim, 35, chief coordinator of the Bangladesh wing of AQIS, Mufti Jafor Amin alias Salman, 34, an adviser to the AQIS Bangladesh, and three other active members – Saidul Islam alias Sayeed Tamim, 20, Mosharraf Hossain, 19, and Abdur Rahman, 25.
Based on information gleaned from them, the RAB team conducted another drive in the capital's Airport Railway Station, and arrested five other members when they were leaving for Khulna. They are Al-Amin alias Ibrahim, 28, Mozahidul Islam alias Nakib, 31, Ashraful Islam, 20, Rabiul Islam alias Hasan, 28, and Habib Ullah, 26.
Interrogating the arrestees, the elite force came to know that two of their members lived at a house in Mirpur 1 area.
From the house, RAB recovered huge amount of chemicals and other bomb-making materials, 15 explosives devices, sharp weapons, 149 jihadi books and 25 training documents from the house.
Commander Mahmud said one of the top leaders, Mufti Moin Uddin alias Abul Jandal alias Masum Billah alias Kaza was organising the group from jail by sending letters and contacting over the phone.
Moin Uddin was given death penalty in a case filed over the bomb attack on former British high commissioner Anwar Choudhury in 2004 and now staying at the Dhaka Central Jail. He was also given life term imprisonment in an explosives case filed in Satkhira.
The arrestees are part of a 20-member team who were supposed to take physical training at a madrasa in Bogra. The training also included bomb-making techniques, analysing security measures taken by law enforcement and intelligence agencies and operating arms, the RAB official said.
According to detectives, the militant groups and radical Islamist organisations have also targeted noted personalities, secular activists and those who are opposed to their extremist views.
RAB said they would take legal action against the 12 arrested HujiB members.
