The fugitive convict in Ramna Batamul murder case, arrested on Thursday, had been hiding as an Imam of a mosque in Narsingdi, the Rapid Action Batallion (RAB) said on Friday.
Mufti Shafikur Rahman alias Abdul Karim alias Shafiqul Islam, 61, was arrested during a drive conducted by RAB-2 members in Bhairab Upazila of Kishoreganj on Thursday.
He was given death sentence for carrying out grenade attack on Pohela Boishakh celebrations by Chhayanaut on April 14, 2001 that killed 10 people and injured over 50 others.
He also got life imprisonment in the August 21 grenade attack case.
Members of the Bangladesh chapter of Pakistan-based militant group Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (HujiB) carried out the attacks.
RAB ASP Imran Khan said Mufti Shafikur had been involved in a number of fatal attacks perpetrated by HujiB, includiing the killing of five people, including former finance minister Shah AMS Kibria, in Habiganj on January 27, 2005.
After the attack on Ramna Batamul, Mufti Shafikur remained secretly associated with HujiB from 2001 to 2008. Later, he stayed at a madrasa in Narsingdi and then went into hiding.
While in Narsingdi, he was using the pseudonym Abdul Karim and used to work as an Imam at a local mosque for a salary of Tk5,000.
He used to meet his family members at different places. "Legal action against the arrestee is underway," said the RAB official.
Mufti Shafikur told interrogators that he had got acquainted with Mufti Hannan, head of a faction of HujiB, during his study at Yusuf Bin Nuri Madrasa in Karachi in 1987.
RAB says, from 1990 to 1993, the militant served as the publicity secretary of HujiB. From 1993 to 1996, he was the Ameer of the group, and served as a member of the Sura committee from 1997 to 2003.
