HuJI men planned India crossover in case of 'trouble'

The four Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI) leaders arrested with explosives and bomb-making materials planned to go into hiding in Satkhira after setting off blasts.

Golam Mujtaba Dhrubabdnews24.com
Published : 26 Oct 2014, 06:37 PM
Updated : 26 Oct 2014, 06:53 PM

But they told interrogators on Sunday that if they attracted notice of security forces they had plans to slip into India.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police Joint Commissioner Monirul Islam told journalists that the four HuJI leaders arrested on Saturday had been sent on six days’ police remand – three days each in two cases – to facilitate questioning.

The Wari police had filed the cases against them, he said.

"These HuJI activists had planned to attack Abdul Latif Siddique and some other top political leaders."

Islam said these four had planned to hide in Satkhira and then escape across the border into India if things got difficult.

"They were in touch with some militants who had already fled into India. So they knew they would get shelter there."

The four are Md Rafiq Ahmed alias 'Sajid', 34, Md Omar alias ‘Faizul’ aka ‘Robi’, 25, Md Nadim Ahmed alias ‘Sumon’, 30, and Md Salauddin Ahmed, 29.

They were arrested in Uttara and Tikatuli in Dhaka and Narayanganj on Thursday and Friday.

Islam said the Huji activists confessed they were in touch with other Islamic militants in West Bengal because of shared linguistic traits and also with other like-minded groups in Pakistan.

They told the detectives that their jailed leader Abu Zafar was leading the group from prison.

He was the prime accused in the case over the grenade attack on an Awami League rally on Aug 21, 2004 that killed at least 24 people and injured over a hundred others, including present Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was the opposition leader at the time.

DMP official Monirul Islam said that Sajid and Robi were often meeting Zafar in jail posing as his relatives.

"They were actually operating as crucial linkmen."

Islam said two businessmen in Bangladesh were funding them though he refused to disclose their identity in the interest of investigations.