Militants who fought in Afghanistan are operating in Hifazat-e Islam: police

Hifazat-e Islam has links with multiple terrorist groups despite being a so-called apolitical organisation, the police say.

The recent spate of violence unleashed by the radical organisation over Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit was also “fuelled” by the extremists that infiltrated Hifazat, police officials claim.

Mahbub Alam, a joint commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said Hifazat has a subgroup called Manhazi.

Members of Manhazi include some people who had “fought in Afghanistan “, according to him.

“They harbour extremist views. Basically it was them who instigated the violence in Chattogram,” said Mahbub.

The police have identified some former members of banned militant outfit Harkat-ul Jihad al-Islami, or HuJI, among the Afghanistan returnee fighters, he said.

Mamunul Haque, joint secretary general of Hifazat-e Islam, was brought to the office of the Tejgaon deputy police commissioner after he was arrested from Jamia Rahmania Arabia Madrasa in Mohammadpur on Sunday, Apr 18, 2021.

Citing information teased out from Mamunul Haque, a Hifazat leader who was arrested in Dhaka on Apr 7, during remand, a police official said the Manhazi members of Hifazat favoured violence during the protests.

“Many of this section in Hifazat are accused of militancy."

Mamunul has close links with a Pakistani terrorist group, the police claimed.

He and his brother-in-law Maulana Mufti Neamat Ullah had travelled to Pakistan in 2005 and contacted militant and political groups during a 45-day stay there, said Harunor Rashid, a deputy commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police.

Officials at police’s Counterterrorism and Transnational Crime Unit or CTTC said a close relative of Mamunul in Pakistan is still maintaining links with several groups.

The investigation centres around the source of a huge amount of money transferred to Mamunul’s bank account.

A deputy commissioner at the CTTC said a significant amount of the Tk 60 million was transferred through Dubai.

“But it’s not certain that the money was sent from Dubai. It could have been sent through other channels. We are looking into the matter.”

Md Asaduzzaman, chief of the CTTC, said at a news briefing in Dhaka on Sunday that they were investigating Mamunul’s alleged links with militants.

The CTTC of Dhaka Metropolitan Police last week arrested two militant suspects on charges of instigating and plotting a sword attack on parliament.

One of them, 22-year-old Abu Shakib, is a member of banned militant outfit Ansar Al Islam while the other, Ali Hasan Osama, is an extremist orator. 

CTTC officials said they had obtained a photo of Osama taking oath of allegiance to Junaid Babunagari, a former chief of Hifazat and member of the organisation’s current convening committee.

bdnews24.com tried to reach Babunagari for comments but he did not take the call.

The police are grilling Osama and Shakib to know about their links.

The investigators have tracked down the blacksmith who carved the sword for Shakib in Sirajganj.

The blacksmith told the police that Shakib had asked him for a long knife to slaughter cows.