According to sources of the law enforcement agencies, the ‘mastermind’ behind involving seven now-missing youths of Cumilla in militancy, in the name of 'hijrat', has been identified. He has been identified as Shah Mohammad Habibullah, the imam of a mosque in Cumilla town. He too has been missing for a week.
Law enforcement agencies say that Habibullah has gone into hiding to avoid arrest. Efforts are on to nab him.
Meanwhile, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) is also looking for an employee of Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) in connection to the incident. His name is Md Nesar Uddin (34).
His wife Sonia Begum told Prothom Alo on Sunday, Nesar is a deputy assistant officer at the Bhola office of BARI. He has been missing for four to five days.
Nesar lived in Bhola while his family lived in Patuakhali. Nesar visited his village home every weekend. Despite searching at different places, she couldn’t find anything about her husband, she claimed.
Seven college students from Cumilla left their homes on last 23 August. Officer-in-charge (OC) of Cumilla Kotwali Model police station Shahidur Rahman told Prothom Alo, the seven students haven’t been found yet. Investigation about them is underway.
Alongside the police, RAB is also investigating these seven students. Related sources say that these youths are members of the banned militant organisation Ansar al-Islam.
The main architect behind motivating them towards extremist ideology is Shah Mohammad Habibullah, the imam of Cumilla’s Masjid-E-Quba. These young students used to go for prayers at this mosque and would ask Imam Habibullah about different religious guidelines. At one point, Habibullah motivated them towards extremism.
They later used to meet sometimes at the Noor Masjid or at the park on the banks of Dharmasagar, to evade suspicion.
One of the ‘missing’ youths is a fourth year student of Victoria Government College named Aminul Islam alias Al Amin. While talking to Prothom Alo on Sunday, his father Md Nurul Islam said that his son used to say his prayers at Quba mosque. He still hasn’t found any trace of his son. He isn’t aware, if his son has been involved in an ideology.
When asked about the ‘missing’ Imam, Md Saiful Haque, general secretary of Masjid-E-Quba however told Prothom Alo, Habibullah went home on 10 September, taking two days off, but didn’t return after that. Later, when he started enquiring about him, he found that Habibullah has been missing since 12 September.
Saiful Haque said, he doesn’t know if Habibullah is involved in any militant organisation but he used to talk about Tabligh. The youths that went ‘missing’ last month, used to say their prayers at the Quba mosque.
He added that two more youths named Ahmed Ullah and Nahid went missing from Cumilla, about a year ago. They too used to visit the same mosque.
Habibullah is a resident of the area Loipura under Ward 25 of Cumilla City Corporation area. His elder brother Shah Md Oliullah, a lecturer at Cumilla’s Chowara Islamia Fazil Madrasa, told Prothom Alo, Habibullah came home in the morning of 12 September and left at around 9.00am.
Since then, no trace of him has been found. On 16 September, a general diary was filed with Cumilla Sadar South police station in this connection. Oliullah claims, his brother is not involved with militancy. He was just a teacher at Padua Bazar Madrasa.
When asked, Commander Khandaker Al Moin, director of RAB’s legal and media wing, told Prothom Alo on Sunday night, RAB’s inteligence wing began work right after hearing the news of seven youth going missing in Cumilla. Information has been found about their involvement with Ansar al-Islam.
Information about someone playing a role in their flight has also been found. He is Shah Mohammad Habibullah, the Imam of Quba mosque in Cumilla. He’s on the run now. Efforts are on to track his location. Important information will be found if he is traced, the official added.