Islamic State-like organisation plans to establish Khilafat in Bangladesh, police say

Police have arrested the son of a former army officer on charges of planning to float an organisation like the ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) in order to establish Khilafat in Bangladesh.

Abdullah Al Galib, 25, was arrested from the Baridhara DOHS in Dhaka on Saturday night.

Detective Branch (DB) of Police presented him at a media conference on Sunday.

DB Deputy Commissioner Sheikh Nazmul Alam said Galib was one of the coordinators of the banned Islamic outfit, Ansarullah Bangla Team.

Before joining it, he had been linked to Hizb-ut Tahrir and Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), two other banned Islamic outfits, the DB official said.

He recently launched a Jihadi organisation called the ‘Junud At-Tawheed Wal Khilafah’ with the aim of establishing Khilafat in Bangladesh, he said.

“He had collected 10 to 15 members and started training them,” the detective said.

A video seized from Galib’s house was played at the conference.

It showed nine masked men wearing sports trousers and black T-shirts, posing with pistols or revolvers.

The Kalima, declaration of the faith in Allah, was seen written on a banner behind them.

It seemed that the video had been shot in the courtyard of a house.

The detectives said the video can be seen on the organisation’s website -www.attahreedmedia.wordpress.com.

Galib’s father Mohammad Abdullah is a former army major.

Galib started trading in Attar, natural perfume oils preferred by muslims, after completing O and A-levels from a Dhaka school.

Detective Alam said he had made several attempts to go to Turkey to fight for ISIS. “His passport has been seized.”

Referring to the preliminary interrogation, Alam said Galib, identifying himself as an ISIS representative, enrolled members online for his organisation.

He also gave them shelter and organised their training, Alam said.

On Saturday night, he was holding a meeting at his house with 10 to 12 members of the Ansarullah Bangla Team, he said.

“The others could not be arrested during the raid,” he added.

About the video, the detective said it seemed that it was shot in Bangladesh.

“We’ll have to check if the arms they were carrying were real,” he said.

The DB deputy commissioner said Galib translated the Al-Qaeda’s video messages into Bengali.

“We’ve found 50 such CDs in the house,” he said.

The seizures include two portable harddisks, four harddisks, a computer CPU, 43 Jihadi books, three issues of the monthly magazine ‘Moinul Islamer Masik Patrika’ and a head cap used for prayers - with the tag, ‘Made in Pakistan’.

Galib also told the interrogator that several distinguished people and important establishments were among their targets, Alam said.

“We are trying now to know their names” he added.

A case under the Anti Terrorism Act was filed against him at the Banani Police Station.