Jamaat unit chief among 4 held in Bangladesh

Dhaka, July 21 (IANS) Bangladesh's anti-terrorism unit - Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) - on Thursday busted a group of banned militant outfit, Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), and arrested four people, including a unit chief.

Legal and Media Wing Director Mufti Mahmud Khan confirmed to the Dhaka Tribune that of the four men arrested one was the unit chief of JMB's southern region.

He said, "Firearms, ammunition, improvised bombs and bomb making materials were recovered in the drive conducted at the JMB's training centre in Cherag Ali area early Thursday."

Those held were identified as Mahmudul Hasan, 27, Akbar alias Abesh, 22, Najmus Sakib, 19, and Rahmatullah Shuvo, 19. Among them, Mahmudul is said to be a JMB leader of southern region, the Daily star reported.

Members of the JMB have been found involved in the series of targeted killings including the attacks on Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka on July 1 and Sholakia Eid gathering in Kishoreganj on July 7.

Acting on a tip-off, RAB raided a six-storied building in Tongi's Aushpara area around 4 a.m, Mizanur Rahman Bhuiyan, Assistant Director of RAB’s Legal and Media Wing, told The Daily Star.

In a recent statement, JMB has claimed that the group is now under the leadership of Salauddin alias Salehin alias Sajeeb, a death-row convict who escaped from prison van on February 23, 2014.

Detectives say the organisation has weakened and split into different groups in the last few years following the arrest of their chief Maulana Saidur Rahman and, further after the arrest of their then acting chief Abu Talha Mohammad Fahim alias Pakhi last year.

Their first ameer, Shayakh Abdur Rahman, his deputy Siddiqur Rahman alias Bangla Bhai and three other top leaders were hanged in 2007.