The Bangladeshi head of a banned jihadi group has been arrested at a hideout north of the capital Dhaka. Maolana Sheikh Farid, who fought with the Taliban in Afghanistan, is accused of masterminding a string of grenade attacks in 2004 that killed dozens of people, the head of the Rapid Action Battalion said.Mukhlesur Rahman said that Farid, who was nabbed Tuesday night, had been leading the Harkat-ul Jihad al Islami (HuJI) for several years.
Rahman said, "He is wanted for several high-profile blasts."
Farid took the leadership position in the banned group after its original leader Mufti Abdul Hannan was arrested in 2007 in connection with a grenade attack targeting a political rally of the current premier Sheikh Hasina in 2004. Hannan was convicted and sentenced to death in 2008 for a separate attack on the British High Commissioner to Bangladesh.
Farid is also accused of taking part in the attack on Hasina that left at least 20 dead. Hasina, who was the leader of the opposition at the time, was wounded by the blast.
RAB chief Rahman said Hannan and Farid had also plotted the grenade attack on a Bengali New Year's concert in a Dhaka park in April 2001 that killed nine and injured more than 100 people.
Two other HuJI