DHAKA - Bangladesh authorities said on Monday they had arrested a leader of a banned Islamic group which has been blamed for a nationwide wave of blasts this month. Mohammad Nasir, a leader of the Jamayetul Mujahideen, was among the latest of 169 people from towns and cities across Bangladesh arrested since the blasts on August 17, officials said.âWe arrested Nasir, one of the leading figures (of the Jamayetul Mujahideen) in Khagrachhari (Sunday),â home ministry spokesman Mohammad Mohsin told a news conference. Khagrachhari lies in the countryâs south. âWe hope to get some information from him,â Mohsin said, declining to elaborate.
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A total of 434 small bombs exploded in all but one of the countryâs main towns and cities, killing three people and injuring over 100. The death toll rose after one of those injured in the blasts, who was detained by police as a suspect, died of his injuries in a Dhaka hospital on Sunday.
The groupâs top leader, Shaikh Abdur Rahman, is still in hiding. Police last week charged him in absentia with masterminding the attacks and a warrant has been issued for his arrest. Police are also looking for Siddiqul Islam, also known as Bangla Bhai, the leader of the Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh. Police say it is a sister organisation of Jamayetul Mujahideen.