Syria-returned ‘IT expert terrorist’ arrested

Counter-terrorism unit of police arrested a person from Dakkhin Khulshi area in Chattogram on Friday night claiming that the person is an IT expert of banned militant organisation, Ansar al-Islam.

The law enforcement said Sakhawat Ali went to Syria from Bangladesh four years ago. He returned to Bangladesh in March this year.

According to the case statement filed by the counter-terrorism unit’s sub-inspector (SI) Rasib Khan with Khulshi police station, Sakhawat got involved with terrorist activities through his brother-in-law Md Arif Mamun in 2012. Later he got involved with Jihadi activities at the instigation of dismissed army major Zia (Syed Ziaul Haque) and others.

As part of this, Arif went to Turkey in 2017 and crossed the Syrian border illegally. He took training in heavy arms from Hayat Tahrir Ashraq there.

He took training at Idlib, Syria for six months. From there he went to Indonesia, visited Sri Lanka and went to Indonesia again.

SI Rasib Khan told Prothom Alo that police arrested Sakhawat upon learning that he returned to Bangladesh from Syria.

Police retrieved important information while quizzing him, he added.