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RAB arrests second-in-command of Jamaat ul-Mujahideen division
BANGLADESH'S crack security force said today it had arrested an Islamic militant commander and seized a large cache of explosives in a hunt for those responsible for nationwide blasts.The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) said it arrested 27-year-old Zaiur Rahman, also known as Sagar, in the southwestern town of Khulna and seized explosives in a raid on a student dormitory late yesterday. The force accused Sagar in a statement of being "the divisional second in-command of Jamayetul Mujahideen". Police have blamed the group for 434 synchronized blasts across Bangladesh August 17 and subsequent suicide bombings in cities and towns that have claimed the lives of 28 people, including four suicide bombers and injured hundreds. Leaflets left at blast sites bearing the name of the outlawed group called for the imposition of strict Islamic law in the Muslim nation. Bangladesh's legal system is based on English Common Law. The RAB alleged Sagar "supplied 34 bombs to militants for explosions in four districts (of Khulna) on August 17". Khulna lies 300km southwest of Dhaka. The country's judiciary has been a prime target of the bombers with four lawyers and two judges among the dead. RAB said the arrested man was making bombs at the student dormitory and that it had found large quantities of explosive materials along with three bombs and three detonators. The country has mobilised thousands of police, paramilitary troops and the RAB to search for members of the group led by an Afghan war veteran. Police had earlier arrested the group's military head and chief coordinator of the suicide bombings at a hideout in Dhaka. They have said they are close to finding leader Shaikh Abdur Rahman who formed the group in 1998. Police say they believe Rahman, who fought in the Afghan war after graduating from Medina University in Saudi Arabia, is in hiding in the country. In the past few weeks, police say they have arrested around 800 suspected militants and filed more than 180 cases against Jamayetul Mujahideen members. Posted by: Dan Darling 2005-12-31 |
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