6 militants of banned outfit Ansar Al Islam arrested

UNB, Dhaka :

Members of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested six members of banned militant outfit Ansar Al Islam from Narayanganj’s Rupganj on Sunday .

The arrestees are Abdur Razzak alias Ishak alias Saiba, 41, Shariful Islam alias Murad, 31, Rahman alias Usaiman, 27, Muhammad Zakaria alias Abar, 24, Al Amin alias Robin alias Samura, 24, and Abu Jar Maruf, 18.

The elite force also recovered a large number of books on Jihad and extremism from their possession, Commander Khandaker Al Moin, director (Legal and Media wing) of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) headquarters, said in a press briefing on Monday.

During the primary interrogation, the arrestees said they were members of the Ansar Al Islam and some of them went to India for training and were arrested there, Moin said.

They were supplying different booklets on radicalism, repression on Muslims, and videos and speeches given by the fundamentalist leaders.

The arrestees also collected money from their relatives, madrasas, and others by providing misleading information about their organisation.

The RAB official also said arrested Razzak knew about those who escaped from the court premises in Dhaka last year and was aware that such an incident could happen.

“However, we are yet to know about his involvement in the incident. He did not give any clear information about the whereabouts of the fugitive militants,” he added.

In 2015, Razzak joined the Ansar Al Islam after the top leaders of the outfit radicalised him. He lured more members to the organisation while pretending to have a different profession.

Later, he became the chief coordinator of Ashulia, Savar, Manikganj, Gazipur, and Mymensingh divisions and headed the training department.