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Arms dealer linked to militancy held
[Bangla Daily Star] The detective branch (DB) of police has arrested a person allegedly involved in arms and fake currency rackets that finance militancy.A team led by Assistant Commissioner Golam Azad Khan made the arrest at a restaurant on Babar Road in the capital's Mohammadpur area on Thursday night. It also recovered a huge amount of fake currencies and a pistol from the arrestee, Shafique Mahmud Selim alias Professor Selim. Of the seized counterfeit notes, Tk 5 lakh are Bangladeshi currency and Tk 50,000 Indian. Meanwhile, a Dhaka court yesterday placed Selim, 42, on seven days' remand in two cases--one filed for possession of illegal firearms and the other for fake currencies. DB filed the both cases--first with Mohammadpur Police Station and the second with Badda. AC Golam Azad said the court has granted them four days for quizzing him in the currency case and three days in the arms case. In primary interrogation, Selim admitted he had been involved in arms and currency racketeering for years with banned Islamist group Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh and international militant organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba. He also had ties to detained Pakistani nationals Mohammad Danis and his associates Rubina Hossain and Sabbir. Talking to The Daily Star yesterday, Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner AKM Shahidul Hoque said the arrest backs their suspicion that militants in league with organised crime gangs run fake currency and arms trade to finance their terror campaign. "Selim has close relations with Jamal, who used to be JMB supremo Shaikh Abdur Rahman's right-hand man," he added. Hailing from Bakerganj upazila of Barisal district, he had been living in Badda before his capture. He got his nickname 'Professor Selim' for teaching at a college in the city. He had a master's in accounting from Dhaka University in 1991. Two years back, the Rapid Action Battalion arrested him on charges of fake currency racketeering. That time, he spent 14 months in prison. Posted by: Fred 2010-04-03 |
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