'Detained Ashfaq close aide to sacked army major Ziaul'

Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) on Tuesday said the detained 'IT chief' of the banned Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) is a close associate to the sacked army major Syed Mohammad Ziaul Haque.

The DMP's Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit told this to newsmen at a press conference.

The detainee, who was apprehended from the capital's Bhatara area on Monday evening, was earlier introduced as Ashfaq-ur-Rahman aka Ayon. He is also known as Arif and Anik, a DMC text message in morning reads.

CTTC chief Monirul Islam said Ashafaq is the information technology (IT) chief of the banned militant outfit's military section.

Ashafaq met with the chief of the ABT's military branch and suspended army major Zia out of Dhaka a few months ago, he added.

Monirul also said, "Ashfaq joined the ABT while studying computer science in Shahjalal University Science and Technology.

"He was made ABT IT chief in 2015."

A laptop, a mobile phone and an article written by Al-Qaeda chief Osama-bin-Laden were recovered from his possession, Monirul added.

In 2015, the government banned the Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) under the country's terrorism act.

According to a police report sent to the home ministry, the ABT follows the Al-Qaeda's ideology. It aims to kill freethinkers, bloggers and cultural personalities in the country, the report also reads.