Ansarullah's Gazipur chief, another held

Members of RAB 1 detained Gazipur district unit chief of banned militant outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team Rashedul Islam alias Swapan and his accomplice Biplob Hossain alias Huzaifa from Chaurasta area on Saturday morning. At a press briefing at the RAB 1 office, Commanding Officer Lt Col Tuhin Mohammad Masud said the duo worked in the garments industry. Later they became affiliated with AQIS (al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent) through one Abdul Quddus, a leader of Ansarullah's Dhaka regional unit. The duo later took oath to carry out jihad in the name of al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri. The RAB spokesperson said that the detainees admitted to hatching a plot to attack Kashimpur Jail in a bid to free militants, including Ansarullah chief Jasim Uddin Rahmani. They also planned to snatch him on the way to court. Two more Ansarullah members including a woman were also identified, RAB claims. The woman wanted to donate Tk10 lakh to buy arms for the group. According to RAB, they all are followers of Tamim Al Adnani, one of the three top leaders of Ansarullah now staying in Malaysia. The government banned Ansarullah on May 25 last year for their involvement in series of attacks on secularists and war crimes trial campaigners linked to the 2013 Shahbagh movement. After the ban, the group is renamed as Ansar Al Islam and believed to be representing AQIS in Bangladesh.