Jamaat-e-Islami supporter arrested for threatening intellectuals’ lives: Police

Police in Dhaka say that a ‘Jamaat-e-Islami supporter’ has been arrested for threatening the lives of writers, teachers and intellectuals.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) spokesperson Muntasirul Islam told bdnews24.com that 26-year-old Abdul Haque was arrested from Tejgaon on Tuesday night.

“He has been arrested on charges of threatening Professor Anisuzzaman, Mohammad Zafar Iqbal, Muntasir Mamun and several other eminent politicians,” said the police deputy commissioner.

At a press briefing on Wednesday, Detective Branch official Monirul Islam said that Haque, a former Madrasa teacher, was arrested following investigations over threats issued to 153 persons.

“He was active in Facebook with the aliases of Faizur Rahman, Saleh Ahmed Fuad and Mawlana Saad. He used spoofing technology (IP address forgery to avoid being tracked) to issue threats,” said DMP Joint Commissioner Islam.

Dhaka University professor emeritus Anisuzzaman filed a complaint with Gulshan police on Nov 10 of receiving a death threat in a text message.

On Nov 16, Inspector General of Police AKM Shahidul Hoque claimed they had identified the man who had threatened Professor Anisuzzaman.

“We tracked the owner of the mobile phone used to issue the threat. He was brought in but investigators found him innocent. His phone number had been cloned,” the police chief told reporters.

He then said that police were yet to arrest the perpetrator.

The SMS, which the DU professor received, said he would be killed with a machete.

Since February this year, four bloggers and online activists in Bangladesh have been killed by machete-wielding assailants.

In October, a publisher in Dhaka was found murdered at his office. Autopsy reports said that he died from machete injuries. Investigators said they found evidence that militants were involved in the killings.