IS member Samiun put on 3-day remand
A Dhaka court on Monday granted a three-day remand for Samiun Rahman Ibne Hamdan, a Bangladesh born UK citizen arrested for his alleged link with Middle East-based militant groups Islamic State (IS) and al-Nusra Front, in a case filed under the Anti-terrorism Act.
Metropolitan Magistrate Asaduzzman Noor passed the order after police produced him before his court in the afternoon, seeking a 10-day remand.
The court also rejected a petition filed by the defence lawyer seeking bail for Samiun.
Samiun who was held by the Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) from Dhaka's Kamalapur area on Sunday night was shown arrested.
Earlier, DB officials said Samiun Rahman claimed that he came to Dhaka in February this year to collect Mujahids for Syria.
Tipped off that a suspected IS member has been trying to spread the activities of the militant group in the country, a team of the DB conducted a drive at Kamalapur and arrested Samiun Rahman from the railway station around 11:15pm on Sunday, said DMP deputy commissioner (media) Masudur Rahman.
Briefing reporters at the DMP Media Centre on Monday, joint commissioner (DB) Monirul Islam said the detectives conducted the drive after getting information from Asif Adnan alias Julkarnain and Md Fazle Alehi Tanjil. They were arrested from the Dhaka city on September 24.
During preliminary interrogation, Samiun revealed that he went to Syria from the UK in September 2013 and stayed there for months up to December.
During his stay in Syria, he participated there in jihadi activities as a member of the Syria-based al-Nusra Front, also known as al-Nusra brigade.
Besides, he went to Mauritania and Morocco as part of his jihadi activities to collect Mujahids, DB joint commissioner said.
Later, Samiun came to Dhaka in February this year and tried to collect Mujahids. He used to contact people using social media through internet, joint commissioner Monir said quoting Samiun.
He said Samiun had intention to create an al-Qaeda front in Indian subcontinent, including Bangladesh and Myanmar, after completion of jihadi activities in Syria.
“We’re verifying information gleaned from him and trying to unearth whether any Bangladeshi has given him support or patronised his activities,” the DB official said.
Earlier on September 26, plainclothes police arrested a suspected IS member from Purana Paltan in the city for his alleged efforts to spread activities of the militant group.