Police investigating how son of Jamaat Amir gets involved with militant organisation

Police have been investigating how Rafat Sadik alias Saifullah, son of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Amir, Shafiqur Rahman, got involved with a terrorist organisation.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s (DMP) Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit chief Md. Asaduzzaman on Thursday said Rafat Sadik, an MBBS graduate, had been working as the chief coordinator of Sylhet area of the new terrorist organisation ‘Jamatul Ansar Fil Hindal Sharqiya’.

During a presser at the DMP media centre Asaduzzaman said Rafat was arrested on allegation of getting involved with terrorism. He will be asked whether his father’s party had instructed him to get involved with terrorism.

Asaduzzaman also informed media that police arrested three members of the new terrorist organisation from Sayedabad area in the capital on 1 November during a raid. They are -- Sejadul Islam Shahab Tanim aka Isa aka Arafat aka Anwar aka Anbir, 24, Md. Jahid Hossain Bhuiyan, 21, and Syed Riaz Ahemed, 22.

Inspired by terrorism the three youths did ‘Hijrat’ (leaving country or going from one place to another) from Sylhet, the CTTC chief added.

Asaduzzaman further said most of the youths, who are involved with the so called Hijrat recently, are from Sylhet. This Hijrat also started from Sylhet. Rafat was the mastermind behind this Hijrat (young men leaving home in bands).

Asaduzzaman said Rafat had been accomplishing his intern having passed MBBS from a medical college. According to the confessional statement of Tanim, Anbir and Jahid, whoever made Hijrat from Sylhet and took oath in terrorism, Rafat was the man behind them.

The CTTC chief also said 11 youths made their ‘Hijrat’ from Sylhet under the leadership of Rafat in June 2021. It created stir in the country then. They had returned from Bandarban to Sylhet as they somehow lost communication. But they did not stop their terrorist activities.

According to CTTC officers Rafat has been inspiring pious youths for jihad and terrorism. He had been training them in terrorism in disguise of teaching lessons of Holy Quran.

CTTC official Asaduzzaman said that Rafat and other members of this new militant outfit have trained several youths, motivated to do jihad, to make bombs.

“They have also verified what they have achieved from the training. We have identified the bomb maker. An operation is underway to arrest him,” he said.

Asaduzzaman said, “We have identified several other youths from Sylhet region that are ready to migrate. We arrested mastermind Rafat before Hijrat. We have sent him to court seeking remand. If remanded, we will interrogate him. Then we will come to know the future plans of the organisation and their plans centring Sylhet.”

When asked whether Rafat had any connection with Jamaat-e-Islami or Islami Chhatra Shibir, Asaduzzaman said, “Rafat was involved with Shibir. But it is yet to be known which level of leadership he belonged to. We have been looking into his secret connections with various organisations.”

Pressed on whether the new militant organisation has any target of sabotage, the CTTC chief said, “The mastermind of this organisation is Shamin Mahfuz and his aide is Tomal. Its future plan will come to light if they can be arrested.”