From RMG workers to militants

Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has arrested two suspected members of the banned militant outfit Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) from Mohammadpur’s Rayerbazar in Dhaka. M Soaiyeb Sheikh alias Soaiyeb, 31, and Rafiqul Islam Rafiq, 30, were arrested Sunday morning. RAB 2 Assistant Police Super Md Rabiul Islam told the Dhaka Tribune: “Acting on a tip off, we conducted a drive near Martyred Intellectuals Memorial around 12:10am on Sunday and detained the duo. “We have information that a small group of JMB militants are regrouping under Soaiyeb to carry out subversive activities in Dhaka. Based on the information, we recently arrested some JMB members from Tejgaon, Savar and Gazipur.” The elite force also recovered a foreign-made pistol, two magazines and four rounds of bullets from Soaiyeb's bag, and a machete from Rafiq’s laptop bag. In the primary interrogation, Soaiyeb told RAB that he was working at a sweater factory in Gazipur when he was introduced to New JMB leader Yasin. Soaiyeb, who is originally from Char Ariyara village of Norail district, studied at a madrasa till becoming a Quran hafez and then got admitted to a school in class VI in 1998. However, he was unable to continue his studies because of his family's financial problems. He moved to Dhaka in 1999 to find a job and support his family. He began working at a sweater factory in 2011. After Yasin's arrest in 2016, Soaiyeb started leading the new faction of banned militant outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (New JMB) in Gazipur area. RAB 2 Assistant Police Super Rabiul said: “Yasin brainwashed Soaiyeb by misinterpreting Islam and the messages of Prophet Muhammad. “Yasin also performed 'waz' (initiation) ceremony for the New JMB's spiritual icons Motiur Rahman Madani, Abdur Razzak bin Yusuf, Mozaffer bin Mohsin and Mufti Jasim Uddin Rahmani.” Stating that Soaiyeb joined New JMB to advance Islam, he said: “At first, he was involved in trivial activities like fundraising and arranging meetings for the militant groups but he was later given the job of regrouping fugitive JMB members after the crackdown of law enforcers on militants, following the attack on Holey Artisan Bakery.” Twenty-four people, including 17 foreigners and two policemen, were killed in the attack on July 1, 2016. The story of other arrestee Rafiq is no different. Rafiq is from Mosjidpara village in Panchgarh and has three daughters and a wife back home in his village. He came to Gazipur in 2010, a year before Soaiyeb, to work in a readymade garment factory. Rafiq studied till clas VIII but had to discontinue his education in 1997 because of financial crisis. Even he was similarly brainwashed by Yasin when they met in 2013. Assistant Police Super said Rafiq was in-charge of fundraising within the organisation. He said: “Soaiyeb met fellow JMB members a couple of times in Gazipur and on the outskirts of Dhaka to carry out their plans, before getting arrested.” “The arrestees confessed that they were splitting up into smaller groups to carry out their activities to avoid the vigilance of law enforcement agencies,” he said adding a case has been filed with Tejgaon police station in this regard.