Nabbed militant Rakibul Hassan Reagan was all set to go to Syria

Mohammed Rakibul Hassan Reagan, who worked as 'cook' in the Kalyanpur hideout of suspected JMB militants, was all set to go to Syria, says police.

Hassan, 18, had left his ancestral home in Bogra a year ago.

Early on Tuesday, he was nabbed when police raided the hideout and killed nine militants.

Police suspect all the nine killed were JMB militants.

Police took Hassan to the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital after he was injured during the encounter.

bdnews24.com found him answering questions in a low voice to policemen interrogating him on his hospital bed.

He said he had started working in the 'Taj Manzil' mess at Kalyanpur ( meant for bachelors) a month ago through one 'Shafi'.

There were ten men in that mess, he told police, all living in the fourth floor of the six-storey building.

Nine were killed during the raid that began late at night and continued until Tuesday morning.

Police say they are certain all those killed were JMB militants.

In the course of his interrogation, Hassan told the police that he was all set to go to Syria.

Many Muslims from around the world have gone to Syria to join the militant group Islamic State.

Media reports suggest there were some Bangladeshis among those who had gone to Syria and joined the IS.

Police stationed at the hospital gate are preventing journalists from entering the ward with cameras. 

When Sub-Inspector Shahjahan realised the presence of journalists in the ward, he asked his colleagues to push them out.

But one detective official on condition of anonymity said Reagan is 'saying different things at different times'.

"Sometimes he is saying he was continuing his studies, sometimes he says he has given it up. Sometimes he says he was all set to go to Syria to do jihad, sometimes he just keeps quiet."

The detective official said that Hassan has had no contact with his family in Bogra in the last six months.

His mother Rokeya Aktar also confirmed he had no contact with the family after leaving home.

Rokeya works in a government health complex at Bijrul in Nandigram Upazila of Bogra.

The family lives in Jibannagar of Bogra Sadar Upazila. Hassan's father Rezaul Karim died a year ago.

Rokeya told bdnews24.com that her son Hassan went to a coaching centre on Jul 26 last year but did not return home.

"His mobile phone was switched on after that. We failed to get his whereabouts ever since."

But Hassan does not figure in the list of missing boys prepared by the RAB after the Gulshan and Sholakia terror strikes.

His family says he secured admission to the Retina Coaching Centre run by the Islami Chhatra Shibir at Bogra's Jaleswari area after clearing his school finals from Shah Sultan College.

DMP Ramna zone Assistant Commissioner Maruf Hossain Sardar was seen entering the DCMH after Hassan was admitted there. But he told bdnews24.com that he had not spoken to him.

"I was only checking on his security arrangements," Sardar said.

 Doctors and nurses are tightlipped about Hassan, not even prepared to confirm or deny whether he has bullet injuries or not. But one hospital staff said: "Usually those with bullet wounds are admitted in this ward."