Militants march on

by PINAKI DASGUPTA

The militants remain active. In a raid conducted at Mirpur and Shanir Akhra on November 15, RAB recovered 105 improvised grenades, explosives and subversive material from hideouts of JMB (Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh). They arrested 28-year-old Hanif alias Kalam, an Ehsar member of JMB. RAB says that they have managed to locate the present Amir of JMB, Saidur Rahman.

The arrested Hanif is the Acting Amir of Dhaka district JMB. He was brought before newspersons at the RAB headquarters on November 16. Hanif said he was in charge of JMB’s dawati programmes. He has declared jihad to establish “Allah’s rule”. He had stored explosives to kill the “kafirs”. Present at the RAB headquarters were RAB Additional DG Col. Gulzar Uddin Ahmed, RAD Intelligence Wing Head Lt. Col. Abdul Majeed, RAB Media Wing Director Commander Abul Kalam Azad, RAB-10 Director Additional DIG SM Kamal Hossain and RAB explosives expert Major Mumtaz.

The arrest

RAB learnt from a tip-off that JMB’s Moulana Saidur Rahman was staying at a house in Mirpur. They learnt that Hanif would sometimes come and stay at a house next to Shaheed Zia Women’s Degree College in Kalshi, Mirpur. A sergeant of RAB intelligence, in the guise of a moulana, got friendly with Hanif. He would pray alongside Hanif and attend dawati programmes with him. He gathered all sorts of information about Hanif. At one point RAB got to know that Moulana Saidur Rahman was at a house in Avenue 5 of Mirpur Section 10. Hanif and Saidur Rahman were both living there with their families. Hanif had set up a bomb-manufacturing factory at the house in Kalshi, Mirpur. On Saturday night Hanif was making bombs there. Based on this tip, a RAB intelligence team raided the house at midnight, but no one was there. They found one hand grenade, 105 improvised grenade bodies, three computers, 5 jars of nitric acid, one bag of ammonium nitrate, five kg of explosives, five screwdrivers, one pair of pliers and other equipment.

Later a team of RAB intelligence raided Ibrahim Azadi’s house at Avenue 5, Mirpur-10. Saidur Rahman managed to escape, but Hanif was caught. He was there with his wife.

Based on Hanif’s statement, a RAB team led by Flt Lt Humayun Kabir raided Moulana Sayem’s house at Shanir Akhra. Sayem managed to escape too, but subversive material was recovered from the house.

Infamous Hanif

Hanif alias Kalam is the son of Abdul Hannan of Nandar Kandi in Matlab, Chandpur. Father Abdul Hannan is a guard at a school in Dhaka. Hanif is second among three brothers and two sisters. He studied up till Class Ten at Ramiz Uddin School in Dhaka. He then became a driver for a private firm. A year and a half ago he met Saidur Rahman through Shaheed. Saidur Rahman invited him to join JMB. He never got to meet Shaikh Abdur Rahman or Siddiqul Islam Bangla Bhai. He was made the Amir of Dhaka JMB. He had learnt how to make grenades. JMB has a strong position in Dhaka.

Powerful explosives

RAB’s explosive expert Maj. Mumtaz says that the mixture of lead oxide, ammonium nitrate and nitric acid was a powerful explosive. A grenade could be made by placing this explosive inside a two-inch metal pipe and attaching a detonator to it. It is similar to a TNT explosive.

Subversive material

About 2000 “jihadi” books were recovered from Moulana Sayem’s house at Shanir Akhra. These included books by Golam Azam, Abu Muhammed Asim Al Maqdeese, ANM Rasheed Ahmed, AK Emdadul Huq Faruk, Shaikh Abdur Rahman and Dr. Zakir Abdul Karim.