Intelligence agencies and investigators believe the mystery behind the rise of militancy, spreading of its network and links both in and outside the country could be revealed only after JMB kingpin Abdur Rahman is arrested. So far, three of the seven-member Majlis-e-Shura (top decision making body) of the JMB -- Abdul Awal Sarker, Ataur Rahman Sunny and Hafez Mahmud -- have been arrested, but none of them could reveal a total picture of the banned militant group or their external and internal links. Following the ban on Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB), the law enforcers primarily concentrated on arresting JMJB operations chief Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai. They did not focus on Shaekh Abdur Rahman until the August 17 countrywide bombings although he organised both the JMB and JMJB networks across the country quite openly. Following the August 17 attack, the investigators said the mystery would be revealed once they can arrest some of the seven members of Majlish-e-Shura, top decision making body of the JMB. However, after arresting three Shura members, the investigators claimed the three failed to provide the expected information saying they did not know much about the JMB network and its functioning. The arrested referred Rahman as controlling the network.
Two Shura members--Rahman's son-in-law Abdul Awal Sarker alias Ashiq alias Adil alias Arafat, and his younger brother Ataur Rahman alias Sunny alias Sajid--were arrested at the end of 2005. The law enforcers held the other--Rakib Hasan alias Hafez Mahmud--last Tuesday. Acting on intelligence information and Hafez's confession, the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) on Tuesday night cordoned off the JMB chief's house at East Shaplabagh in Sylhet and has been trying to convince Rahman to surrender.
Nine family members of Rahman, including his wife Nurjahan Begum alias Rupa, daughter Afifa Rahman and sons Fuad and Ahmed, surrendered yesterday, but Rahman told the law enforcers that he would rather commit suicide than surrendering. Lieutenant Colonel Gulzar Uddin Ahmed, Rab intelligence wing chief leading the Sylhet operation, yesterday afternoon told The Daily Star over telephone that they were taking time before breaking into the house because they want to arrest Rahman alive. "We don't want him to get injured in any way since he has threatened to commit suicide," he said.