DHAKA, Oct 3, 2019 (BSS) – A team of Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit (CTTC) yesterday arrested a top leader of banned militant outfit Harkat-ul-Jihad (HUJI) Bangladesh along with his two accomplices.
The arrestees are identified as Md Atikullah alias Asadullah alias Julfiqar, 49, Md Borhan Uddin Rabbani, 42 and Nazim Uddin alias Shamim, 43.
The CTTC team conducted a raid at Boro Mosque ground under Nikunja-1 in the city at about 3:30 pm yesterday and arrested them, said CTTC officials.
The arrestees during primary interrogation admitted that they were involved in Huji and were trying to reorganise the outfit, according to a DMP news portal.
It said Atikullah alias Asadullah alias Julfiqar was organizing secretary of a banned militant outfit formed by Mufti Hannan in 1996 and later he was involved in Baitul Mal and international relations department.
The HUJI leader fled away to Saudi Arabia via Dubai during in the initial period of the last caretaker regime and went into hiding and visited Pakistan several times for organizational work, the portal said.
The interrogation learnt that Atikullah was an Afghan-war returnee and a bomb expert. He came back to Bangladesh in March and tried to contact with old members of the banned militant outfit and collect new members for making HUJI reactive.
Meanwhile, HUJI leader visited many districts for speed up its activities and amassed money from home and foreign sources. He has active connection with militant organizations in Pakistan, Dubai and Saudi Arabia along with other countries.
During his stay in the war time in Afghanistan, he had several meeting with top militant leaders including Osama Bin Laden, Molla Omar and Iman Al Jahowari.
Besides, Nazim Uddin alias Shamim was secretary of the outfit’s Dhaka city south and Md Borhan Uddin in charge of the outfit’s Feni, according to the DMP news portal.
The Huji men gathered at a playground near a mosque in Khilgaon to have a secret meeting.
A regular case was filed against them with Khilkhet Police Station in this regard.