Published : 18 Sep 2026, 09:13 PM
Updated : 18 Sep 2026, 09:13 PM
One of the 23 people arrested on suspicion of militancy from the Tejgaon College mosque in Dhaka has claimed that the group gathered there after getting in touch over WhatsApp.
After their arrests on Friday afternoon, the 23 were taken to Tejgaon Police Station for initial questioning.
Later in the evening, as the detainees were being taken to the office of the police Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit on Minto Road, one of them spoke to reporters from the prison van. When asked, he identified himself as Shihab Uddin.
He said, "We gathered at the mosque through a WhatsApp group. We were discussing business matters during the meeting.
"We did not know each other before our gathering today. I do not know the person standing next to me either. We are not involved with any banned organisation. We have no involvement with any such platform."
A senior officer of the Tejgaon Division of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police said that they conducted a raid on the mosque of Tejgaon College after receiving information about a “secret meeting” at the location. The group of 23 people were then arrested from the scene on suspicion of militancy.
Police officials said that 24 mobile phones and a book were recovered from the detainees.
Inspector Akhtar Morshed of the Ramna Division of the Detective Branch said: "The police will conduct initial interrogation at the CTTC today and file a case at the Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station in the capital tomorrow."
Apart from Shihab Uddin, 12 others have been identified as Afif Ahmed, Sajjad Hossain, Nazrul, Zia Uddin, Hridoy, Uday, Shaon, Azad, Mehedi, Rakib, Junaid Ahmed, and Mehedi Hasan – some with single names.
Asked about the situation Additional Police Commissioner Mohammad Shamsul Haque, head of the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), said: “We are in the process of verification. Details will be announced after verification.”
