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| Bangladesh |
| 20 Jamaat men held |
| 2010-10-29 |
| [Bangla Daily Star] Police nabbed 20 Jamaat-e-Islami men, including former politician Mujibur Rahman, with "bomb making materials" and "anti-state" leaflets from the capital's Mirpur area yesterday. Officer-in-Charge Kazi Wazed Ali of Mirpur Police Station said after a tip-off police raided a building at Kalwalapara of Mirpur-1 around 11:30am and jugged the Jamaat members. He added they had recovered six explosive-like substances, bomb making materials, around 200 jihadi books, a sack full of anti-state leaflets, a laptop and some foreign currencies. "In the building, the Jamaat men were holding a secret meeting in the dead of night as part of their anti-state activities," said the OC. Arrested Mujibur Rahman, a former MP from Rajshahi, is the assistant secretary general of Jamaat and president of Sramik Kolyan Federation, an associate body of the party. Mahfuzur Rahman, Jamaat Mirpur thana (west) unit ameer; Kazirul Islam, an executive member of the party; Shafiqul Alam, Khulna city unit nayeb-e-ameer; SA Abdul Hai, Sramik Kolyan Federation publicity secretary; and Abdul Karim, a leader of the party's ward-12 unit, were among the arrestees. Of the 20, five top-ranked Jamaat men, including Mujibur Rahman, were taken to the Detective Branch headquarters on Minto Road for questioning, sources said. Deputy Commissioner Mahbubar Rahman of DB-North, however, said they had taken the five into their custody to share the pressure on police lock-up. Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... a case under the Explosives Act has been filed with Mirpur Police Station against the 20. Mohor Ali, owner of the six-storey building from where the Jamaat men were jugged, told The Daily Star Mirpur unit Jamaat leader Mahfuzur Rahman had rented a flat on its first floor two years ago to run a coaching centre. Mohor's son Shakil said, "I heard a meeting was being held in the flat and later police raided it." Jamaat's acting secretary general ATM Azharul Islam condemned the arrest terming it an undemocratic act. He said the nabbed Jamaat men were holding a special prayer for Habibur Rahman, a party activist killed on October 28, 2006, in a clash between Jamaat and Awami League-led 14-party alliance. The Jamaat leader also refuted the police claim that six bomb-like substances had been recovered in the drive. |
| Posted by:Fred |