Police claim to arrest four ISIS members including Bangladesh chief

Four members of militant outfit ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) have been arrested from Dhaka, police claim.

Detective Branch's Deputy Commissioner Masudur Rahman told bdnews24.com that those arrested include the organisation's chief coordinator in Bangladesh.

The four were identified as Shakhawatul Kabir, Anwar Hossain, Rabiul Islam and Nazrul Islam.

They were arrested from Dhaka's Jatrabarhi and Khilkhet areas early on Monday, he said.

A laptop and ISIS leaflets have been recovered from them, added the police official.

DB Inspector Md Abu Zafar said that Kabir's brother-in-law Shamim and Baten's brother Sayem lives in Pakistan and they are members of ISIS.

The two had given Kabir the responsibility to work as ISIS's chief coordinator in Bangladesh, Zafar said.

According to the detective official, Kabir has been frequently travelling to India, Pakistan and other countries.

In August last year, a video clip showing a group of Bangladesh nationals taking oath to organise Muslims under the leadership of ISIS chief Abu Bakr al Baghdadi surface online.

The video had footage of  a group of five people taking Bay'ah to follow Al-Baghdadi. The video was uploaded on YouTube on Aug 2 with an English title 'Muslims in Bangladesh Give Bayah to the Caliph'.

In Islamic terminology, Bay'ah is an oath of allegiance to a leader.

Bangladesh intelligence had since focused on picking up traces of ISIS activities.