Bangladesh News

Investigators suspect that the four persons arrested in the last two days in connection with the grenade attack on British High Commissioner Anwar Choudhury at Hazrat Shahjalal’s shrine in Sylhet have links with banned militant Islamist organisation Harkatul Jihad al Islami (HuJi) or other Islamist groups.

Arrested after over two years and three months into the incident, the four are the first to be shown as apprehended for their involvements with the attack that killed three and injured 70. Although around 20 people were detained earlier following the attack, all were released because the investigators could not find any link between the incident and those individuals.

According to intelligence sources, two of the latest arrestees already admitted to their involvements with the attack carried out immediately after the Friday prayers on May 21, 2004.

Investigators however refused to make any official disclosure about the information quizzed out of the arrestees, but claimed that the arrests will lead to ‘a good progress’ in the investigation.

They said the four will be interrogated extensively by an intelligence task force comprising members from different intelligence agencies, police and Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) to dig out the mystery behind the incident.

A Sylhet court yesterday placed the four — Sharif Sahedul alias Bipul of Chandpur, Badrul Alam Mizan of Habiganj, Hafej Nayeemur Rahman Arif of Sunamganj, and Delwar Hossain Ripon of Moulvibazar on 10-day remand.

After the remand order, the investigators started for Dhaka and were on the way till filing of this report yesterday evening.

During interrogation before the remand order, the investigators learnt that the four had involvements with the attack, said sources.

“The four have been captured after a long investigation since the attack. The investigators had been trying to tally the information and evidence collected over the period and became quite certain about these peoples’ involvements,” said a source.

A high-level investigator, who has been involved with the probe since the blast, said, “We cannot come to a conclusion about their involvements based only on our suspicions or their primary confessions. We’ve to collect substantial evidence to prove it beyond doubt.”

“We should also check how far their confessions and other information are true,” he added.

Asked about political involvements of the four, another investigator said they have yet to start probing political affiliations of the four and other details. “They’ve just been remanded and we’ve yet to start extensive interrogation,” he said.

Rab and Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) members first caught Bipul from Shahjalal shrine area Saturday night and interrogated him the same night about his link with the grenade attack.

Acting on his information, they later arrested Mizan from his house at Chowdhury Bazar area in Habiganj at 2:30am Sunday.

Delwar was picked up from his home village Konagram under Kulaura upazila while Nayeemur was caught from his Islamic books and CD shop at Syedpur Bazar in the early hours of yesterday.

Producing the four before a magistrate court in Sylhet yesterday afternoon, investigation officer (IO) of the case Special Assistant Superintendent of Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Munshi Atiqur Rahman sought their remand, and Magistrate Nure Alam Siddiquee granted it.

Declining to say anything about the details of involvements of the four with the incident and their political affiliations prior to interrogations, the CID officer said, “We can learn about the motive behind the attack and other details after we can quiz them well.” But he is hopeful that the arrests will lead to a ‘good progress in the investigation’.

Meanwhile, sources said two of the arrestees Mizan and Arif — studied in madrasas. A former student of a Qowmi madrasa, Mizan had been picked up once before on December 14 in connection with the August 17 countrywide bomb attack but was released a few days later after primary interrogation.

Hafez Arif is general secretary of the Syedpur union unit of Islami Chhatra Jamiat, reports our Sylhet correspondent. He also studied in Syedpur Hafezia Madrasa under Jagannathpur upazila in Sunamganj. Ironically, Anwar Choudhury is also originally from Jagannathpur.

Bipul and Delwar admitted to their complicity in the attack, intelligence sources said.

“We’ve primarily learnt that some of the arrestees may have links with HuJi. But we’ll have to examine those,” said one of the sources.

After the May 21 grenade attack, law enforcers turned the spotlight of investigation on several Islamic institutions and organisations including HuJi.

Police collected several anti-British and anti-US posters printed by another Islamist outfit Hizbut Tahrir, which were posted around the shrine a few days before the grenade attack on the Bangladesh-born British envoy.

The investigators probed into the activities of some madrasas and Islamic organisations following the attack, including Jameya Madania Madrasa in Sylhet town which was run by a HuJi leader, Moulana Habibur Rahman, also a leader of two other Islamist organisations Khilafat Majlish and Shahaba Sainik Parishad.

Police took HuJi member Shamim into custody and released him after interrogation three days after the attack.

Terming HuJi as a terrorist organisation, the government banned it on October 17 last year. But, HuJi leaders held a rally at Baitul Mukarram National Mosque in Dhaka under the banner of Sachetan Islami Janata last month.

BRITISH ENVOY’S SATISFACTION
British High Commissioner in Dhaka Anwar Choudhury yesterday expressed his satisfaction over the recent arrests, reports UNB.

“We’re pleased with the current progress made by the Bangladeshi authority and are very grateful for their continuing effort,” the Bangladesh-born British official said yesterday in a brief statement.

He continued, “In memory of those who died and the many injured, we hope that justice will be done and trust that due process will follow.”