3 ‘Ansar al Islam’ men held in Dhaka, Sylhet

The Rapid Action Battalion claimed to have arrested three suspected members of banned militant outfit Ansar Al Islam from Dhaka and Sylhet in last two days.

The arrestees are Motahar Hossain alias Jamil Hasan (34); Murshidul Alam alias Shihad alias Murshid (33), and Saifur Rahman (22). They used to maintain financing for the outfit, according to the elite force.

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Among them, Motahar and Murshid were arrested from the capital's Darussalam area on Wednesday while Saifur was arrested from Jaintapur area of Sylhet on Thursday, said Mohammad Sajedul Islam Sajal, senior assistant director of Rab-4.

After primary interrogation, Rab said Motahar is an "ameer" level member of Ansar Al Islam's Narsingdi unit.

The elite force said he used to collect money from other members of the outfit and deposit those in banks. Afterwards, Motahar used to send the money to one Abu Jandal abroad. In the last two years, he has sent around Tk 4-5 lakh using three bank accounts, the Rab official claimed.

Motahar became acquainted with the top leaders of Ansar al Islam through an online platform and has been regularly communicating with them, the official added.