RAB has arrested five members of banned militant organization Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) from Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj.
The members were arrested in a drive conducted in the early hours of Wednesday.
Confirming the matter, Commander of RAB-5 Lt Col Mahabubul Alam said the detainees have been produced before the court based on previous cases. At the same time, they have been sentenced to a remand for three days.
"They will be interrogated extensively in remand," said Mahabubul. "They had plans to commit acts of sabotage."
The arrested are Khairul Islam, 48, Selim Reza, 26, Ziaul Haque alias Akbar Ali, 39, Nawshad Ali, 50, and Shakil Ahmed, 35.
RAB also recovered seven jihadi books, five cell phones, eight sim cards, two memory cards, two national IDs, a passport, and a hard-disc full of jihadi photos and videos during the drive.
According to Col Mahabubul, RAB had previously arrested four JMB members from Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj on May 14. Based on the information provided by them, RAB came to know of a secret JMB meeting that would be held in Godagari upazila in the early hours of Wednesday.
Accordingly, a team from RAB-5 conducted the drive in Fazilpur village of Godagari and arrested Khairul Islam and Selim Raza. Later, RAB arrested the other three members from their own houses based on information from Khairul and Selim.
The members were allegedly involved in recruiting new members and collecting money for their organization.
Mahabubul said: "The detainees became involved with the JMB through a member named Abu Sayeed. Gradually, they became active members responsible for different activities. One of them, Nawshad, was employed as an active member in Narendrapur of Chapainawabganj."
