RAB arrests 10 JMB suspects, says Uttara's Life School a terror nursery

The RAB has arrested ten persons between Sunday night and Monday noon at Uttara and Kalabagan, three of whom ran an Islamic value-based school called Life School, which the elite force says is used to pool terrorists.

RAB spokesperson Mufti Mahmud Khan confirmed the arrests which he said were the result of operations conducted at several areas between Sunday night and Monday noon.

The ten arrested are former principal of Uttara Sector 13-based Life School, Shariful Islam, 46, his nephew and the former director of the school Ziaur Rahman, 31, current Principal Md Mizanur Rahman, 43, Abu Sadat Md Sultan-al-Raaji alias Liton, 41, Al Mizanur Rashid, 41, Jannatul Mahal alias Jinnah, 60, Md Kaushik Adnan Subhan, 37, Meraj Ali, 30, Mufti Abdur Rahman bin Ataullah, 37, and Md Shahriar Wajid Khan, 36.

On Monday evening, RAB Additional Director General Anwar Latif Khan at a press conference in Karwan Bazar said only the children of those who seemed could be allured to terrorism were admitted to the school.

"There was a room for offering namaz attached to the school, which was later renovated to a mosque. It is here that the guardians were motivated," he said.

However, he believes the ten arrested are not involved in any terror attacks.

Established in 2013, the school has more than 100 students enrolled at present.

According to its website, the school offers courses from the Play Group to class eight. The school follows the Cambridge and 'Islamic curricula'.

Shariful's wife 'Sonia' said last year, her husband, Ziaur, and four others quit Life School to start Knowledge Home, another similar school in Uttara's Sector-9.

"I myself used to take a few Bengali classes there. Shariful quit Life School owing to partnership problems. He still has 42 months' salary due," she said.

'Sonia' said, on Monday around 5am, some people, who identified themselves as law-enforcement officials, 'picked up' her husband from their Sector-4 residence.

Later she came to know that Ziaur was 'picked up' the same way from Sector-9.

Media reports, quoting the Detective Branch, said leading Neo-JMB  leaders, retired Major Jahidul Islam and Tanvir Qaderi, both killed recently in police encounters, were regular visitors at the school.

Law-enforcement agencies believe that two former teachers of the school, Moinul Islam and Faisal Hoque, are preparing to take the reigns of the Neo-JMB.

They are being hunted by law enforcers, news reports say.