Detectives arrested three Rohingyas in the capital on Sunday night who are believed to have links with the suspects and arrestees of West Bengal’s Bardhaman blast incident.
Names of two of them are mentioned in the lists of India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Bangladesh law enforcers, prepared to fight cross-border militants. India had requested the Bangladesh officials to arrest them on priority basis, police say.
Information gleaned by the NIA, from those arrested in India following the blast, also matched with what the detectives in Dhaka have got from the three arrestees during primary interrogation.
But the detectives are yet to confirm whether the three were physically present during the blast on October 2.
Noor Hossain alias Rafiqul Islam, 26, Yasir Arafat, 22 and Umar Karim, 25, were arrested from Lalbagh area around 9pm on Sunday. Of them, Noor has been living in Bangladesh for four years, Yasir for one year while Umar for 12 years illegally.
Police also claimed to have recovered five detonators, two gel-based bomb materials and 100gm explosive substances from them during the drive.
They would be placed before a court seeking remand, Deputy Commissioner Krishna Pada Roy of the DMP told reporters yesterday.
“We are sure whether Noor and Yasir have connections with militant organisations of Myanmar like Rohingya Solidarity Organisation (RSO), Aro Rohingya Units Voice for Human Rights and the Netherlands-based Global Rohingya Center (GRC),” he said.
In primary interrogation, the arrestees claimed that Myanmar national Khaleed alias Khalid Mohammed of the RSO, arrested in Hyderabad recently, was their ideological leader, the DB official said.
Possible Rohingya connection with the Bardhaman blast, believed to be masterminded by banned Islamist outfit Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), came to light after the arrest Khaleed by the Indian law enforcement agencies.
Khaleed reportedly ran terror camps on the Myanmar-Bangladesh border and also had links with Tehrik-e-Taliban of Pakistan. He is now under the custody of the NIA.
The detectives are now assessing the depth of connection between the three arrestees and Khaleed, and whether the arrestees had direct link with the Bardhaman blast.
Another DB official told the Dhaka Tribune that some other listed suspects would be arrested soon. “Umar Karim’s name was not on the list. But we are surprised knowing that he trained the two others.”
It was found out that the bombs made in Bardhaman were intended to be used in Bangladesh. Prime accused in the case Sajid, his wife and brother have already been arrested.
