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Published : 15 May 2026, 03:11 PM
Police have arrested a member of the extremist group “Maktabah Al Himmah Addawatul Islamiyah” during a special operation in a remote area of Moulvibazar's Barlekha.
The suspect was arrested around 2:30pm on Thursday after nearly 12 hours of operation in an isolated hill in Bobarthol Shaitghori, Barlekha Police chief Moniruzzaman Khan said.
Moulvibazar district police identified the arrestee, 23-year-old Rahed Hossain Mahed from Sylhet’s Bishwanath Upazila, as a dismissed Bangladesh Army soldier and an operative of the extremist outfit.
Police said he had been in hiding for a long time and was attempting to flee illegally to India.
Moniruzzaman told bdnews24.com that Police Headquarters had issued an intelligence alert on Apr 23 over potential extremist attack plans targeting the parliament, other key installations, and security forces.
During the investigation into the alert, police learned that Mahed was trying to cross the border into India.
The officer said police remained on alert under instructions from Moulvibazar Police Superintendent (SP) Mohammad Riazul Islam.
Acting on a tip-off over the presence of a suspect near the border, officers launched the raid.
SP Riazul said the suspect was identified after verification following the arrest.
"He is an accused in a case filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act at Shahbagh Police Station in Dhaka. The Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit is investigating the case," he added.
The SP noted that Mahed was handed over to the CTTC on Thursday night for subsequent legal action.
He said initial questioning revealed “important information” about militant links.
