Bangladesh News

Adviser of Islamic Democratic Party Kazi Azizul Haque will be quizzed in connection with the grenade attacks on an Awami League rally on August 21, 2004 for maintaining close relations with some of the alleged attackers.

Azizul was arrested on December 29 and placed on three-day remand for his close relations with leaders of banned Harkatul Jihad Al Islami (Huji), some of who are accused in the August 21 carnage cases, detectives say.

Initially the Detective Branch (DB) of police did not disclose his arrest and remand.

However, documents placed in the court by DB say Azizul was detained from his Zoarsahara house in the capital under section 54 of the Criminal Procedure Code on charge of his links with banned Huji and Hizb-ut Tahrir Bangladesh.

“Since he has been maintaining close relations with Huji leaders for long, we suspect he may give important clues to the attacks and perpetrators. We’ll appeal to the court for permission to interrogate him further,” said a CID investigator asking not to be identified.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which is now carrying out further investigation into the cases, has arrested a number of suspects including one of Huji founders Shaikh Abdus Salam and Abu Yusuf Butt, a leader of Kashmir-based militant organisation Hizbul Mujahedeen.

Azizul during interrogation told DB officials he has close relations with Salam and Butt. Moreover, he also admitted he has close relations with many other Huji leaders, investigators say.

Salam on December 3 made a confessional statement before a Dhaka court about the August 21 carnage.

International Affairs Secretary of Bangladesh Khelafat Andolan (BKA) Azizul Hauqe also admitted that he had helped Huji leaders break into mainstream politics during the BNP-Jamaat-led four-party alliance rule and the caretaker government regime.

During interrogation he claimed Mufti Hannan and some members of his group were responsible for the bomb and grenade attacks.

He also claimed Sheikh Abdus Salam and other leaders of Huji, which was dissolved in 1998, were not involved in any grenade or bomb attacks.

He told the interrogators Hannan was inducted in Huji from Harkatul Mujahideen, a Pakistan-based militant organisation of Afghan war veterans.

Azizul said he himself wrote IDP’s declaration and chose the party’s name. He also claimed he had formed IDP with Huji leaders who were not involved in any criminal activities.

Earlier on November 11, CID raided Azizul’s house and seized some important documents and a computer hard disk.

Azizul said he got closed to Huji members who fought for Taliban in Afghanistan against the former Soviet forces after BKA chief Hafezi Huzur’s son died in fighting in 1989.

Hailing from Pangsha in Rajbari, Azizul obtained his master’s degree from public administration department of Dhaka University. He was arrested twice earlier. Law enforcers arrested him when he was addressing a rally in favour of the Iran Revolution in 1980 and detained him for around a month.

He was again arrested in 2000 and confined to jail for a few days on charge of distributing a leaflet titled ‘Hizbullah’ that strongly criticised the then Awami League government