Thaindian News

Dhaka, Oct 3 (IANS) Islamist militant activities in Bangladesh have “collapsed” following a series of arrests of suspected Indian militants, a police official here has claimed.
The Detective Branch of Dhaka Police said that with Wednesday’s arrest of 28-year-old Emdadullah alias Mahbub, a suspected member of the Pakistan-based Islamist terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the group’s network had broken down, The News Today reported Saturday.

Deputy Commissioner of Metropolitan Detective Branch (south) Monirul Islam said the militant network in Bangladesh had taken a hit after the arrest of Mufti Sheikh Obaidullah and Maulana Mohammad Monsur Ali last July.

The militants stopped contacting each other fearing more arrests after their capture, he claimed.

He said Emdadullah is a suspected member of Harkatul Jihadia Islamia Azadia, a Pakistan-based militant group. He is also the Bangladesh chief of Asif Reza Commando force and member of the LeT, the official said.

The LeT is accused of masterminding the terror attack in Mumbai November last year. The terror group is also accused of carrying out bomb blasts in Mumbai in 2006 and the series of bombings ahead of Diwali in New Delhi in 2005.

Emdadullah is a resident of Padmapukur village under Bagda block in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal in India. He is the son of Ansar ali, alias Abu Ansar, bdnews24.com. news agency web site reported.

Emdadullah had earlier gone into hiding at different places in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan to avoid arrest.

The police got the first clue about the terrorists with the arrest of Abdul Rauf Daud Merchant, a suspected associate of mafia don Dawood Ibrahim, with three other Indian militants in May.

Merchant fled India after being convicted for killing Bollywood music baron Gulshan Kumar in 1997.

Following Merchant’s interrogation, the police nabbed Obaidullah and Mansur, who have been residing in Bangladesh since 1994, masquerading as seminary teachers.