A total of 18 people have been detained on different charges in separate drives in seven districts- Cumilla, Mymensingh, Chattogram, Rangpur, Jashore, Thakurgaon and Dinajpur, in recent times.
CUMILLA: At least four people were arrested along with two firearms and 12 rounds of bullets from border area of Bouara Bazar in Sadar Upazila in of the district on Thursday night.
The arrested are: Md Ripon of Muradpur area of Cumilla Town; Md Sajjad Alam, and Mustafar Rezwan Haider, of Thakurpara area; and Kazi Al Rabbi of Uttar Chartha area.
Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Nazmul Hasan Rafi disclosed the matter in a press briefing organized by the District SP office on Friday afternoon.
On Thursday night, a team of DB Police of Cumilla set up a check post in the Balutupa area under Jagannathpur Union and stopped two motorcycles and searched four people riding on the motorcycles. While searching, they recovered a foreign pistol, a revolver, 5 rounds of bullets from their possession, said the ASP.
On Friday morning, police recovered 7 rounds of bullets, two magazines and 2 covers of pistol from the house of Mustafar Rezwan in Thakurpara following the information given by him.
The police official also said that there are three cases against the accused Ripon, including arms and robbery, and one case each against Rabbi and Rezwan.
The arrested were involved in drug and arms trade for a long time in India and border areas.
However, legal action has been taken against those arrested, the ASP added.
MYMENSINGH: Police arrested an alleged fugitive war criminal, who is accused of committing crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War in Ishwarganj Upazila of the district, on Thursday night.
The arrested is Md Salimuddin, 90, is an accused in a case lodged with International Crimes Tribunal-1 for looting, killing, and torching houses during the Liberation War.
He went into hiding soon since the case was filed about two years back.
Officer-in-Charge (OC) of District Detective Branch (DB) of Police Md Faruq Hossain said acting on a tip-off police raided the Sohagi Charpara area at night, and arrested Salimuddin.
Salimuddin and his associates allegedly brutally killed Md Nrurl Haque, alias Tara Mia, an Awami League (AL) leader and organizer of the Liberation War, and Gopal Chandra Kar, a businessman and AL supporter in the Sohagi area, he said.
Later on, the arrested was produced before a court in Mymensingh and then, he was sent to jail, the OC added.
CHATTOGRAM: Customs Intelligence officials arrested a man along with 1.8 kilograms of gold worth Tk 1.5 crore at Shah Amanat International Airport in the city on Friday morning.
The arrested is Mohammad Ali, 34, a resident of Chikondhandi Village under Hathazari Upazila in the district.
Deputy Commissioner of Chattogram Customs Intelligence Md Ahsan Ullah confirmed the information in a press release on Friday afternoon.
According the press release, Mohammad Ali arrived in the airport on Air Arabia flight G-9526 from Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, about 7:24 am on Friday.
While scanning his luggage, the scanner revealed suspicious items in his baggage. At that time, custom officials searched him and his baggage and recovered 1.7 kilograms (24 carats) of gold in paste form from a rice cooker and 100 grams (22 carats) of gold ornaments from his possession.
"The arrested made an iron cage inside the rice cooker to avoid being caught in the scanner machine. It looked like a rice cooker but it was the new technique to smuggle the gold," the press release reads.
The estimate market value of the seized gold is Tk 1.5 lakh, it said.
Process to file a case with Patenga Police Station (PS) against him is underway, the press release added.
RANGPUR: The Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection (DNCRP), in a drive, detained two persons in the city for allegedly hoarding potatoes forming a syndicate.
The detainees are trader Rasel and Arman Cold Storage General Manager Rezaul Karim Lebu. They were handed over to police.
AHM Shafikuzzaman, director general (DG) of the DNCRP, on Wednesday went to the cold storage at Uttam Hazirhat in the city on Wednesday and found that the potato market was destabilised by forming syndicate and hoarding thousand sacks of potato in the cold storage.
They instantly ordered to detain the duo as they fail to show any proof in support of keeping potatoes in cold storage. Then they were handed over to police.
The Consumer Rights DG told mass media that Rasel formed the syndicate by hoarding 2,500 sacks of potato of him and 12,500 sacks of potato of local formers.
Besides, the cold storage authorities took Tk 4 crore loan from a bank and gave the amount to farmers.
The DG said they detained the potato trader and the cold storage general manager to take legal action investigating why the farmers were given the loan after taking the amount from a local bank.
He also urged the wholesale and retail traders to buy potato at Tk 27 per kg from the cold storage.
During the drive, Rangpur Deputy Commissioner Mobashsher Hasan, ASP (Administration and finance) of district police Tariqul Islam and other officials of consumer rights protection directorate were present.
The DNCRP DG also said that there were adequate amount of potato at the Arman Cold Strage. There are only one and a half to two months to bring out potatoes from the cold storages.
Potatoes would get rotten if those are not brought out from the cold storage. In spite of knowing it, the syndicated traders are heading toward stockpiling potatoes, instead of releasing those from cold storage.
SHARSHA, JASHORE: Police detained six activists of Jamaat-e-Islami for reportedly holding secret meeting to plan sabotage in Sharsha Upazila of the district recently.
The detainees are: Maulana Habibur Rahman, 50, former secretary of Sharsha Upazila Unit of Jamaat; Ahmed Ali, 50, of Shyamlagasi Village; Abdus Salam, 50, of Pantapara Village; Noor Islam, 38, and Mohsin Ali, 28, of Swarupdah Village; and Moslem Ali, 55.
Sharsha PS OC Akiqul Islam said acting on a tip-off, police conducted a drive at the house of one Ahmed Ali in Shyamlagasi Village of the upazila and detained the Jammat men for holding secrete meeting.
During the drive, the law enforcers seized four crude bombs, sticks, iron rods and bricks from the detainees' possession.
The official said sensing the presence of the law enforcers several Jammat men fled the scene.
A case was filed with Sharsha PS under the Explosives Act accusing 25 to 30 unidentified people in this regard, the OC added.
THAKURGAON: Members of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB)-13 arrested four alleged active operatives of banned militant outfit 'Ansar Al Islam' in overnight raids from different places in Thakurgaon and Dinajpur districts recently.
Acting on intelligence information, an operational team of RAB-13 conducted a drive and arrested one militant from Thakurgaon Sadar Upazila, said a press release issued tonight by Senior Assistant Director (Media) of RAB-13 Flight Lieutenant Mahmud Bashir Ahmed.
The arrested 'Ansar Al Islam' operative is Md Yasin, 17, son of Md Mohsin Ali of Sadar Upazila in Thakurgaon District.
As per information delivered by Md Yasin, the elite force conducted separate drives in Sadar and Biral upazilas of Dinajpur District and arrested three more operatives of the banned militant organisation.
The three arrested militants are In-charge (Dawati Branch) of 'Ansar Al Islam' for Northern Region Md Muntaseer Billah, 36, son of Md Keramat Ali, Abdul Malek, 33, son of Rezaul Islam and Sabbir Hossain, 20, of different places in Dinajpur District.
The elite force seized different 'Dawati' books (hard and PDF copies), four mobile phone sets and four SIM cards from the possessions of the arrested persons during the raids, the press release said.
The drives were conducted as a continuation of arresting five 'Ansar Al Islam' members of Khulna, Bagerhat and Gopalganj regions on August 31 last as per intelligence received from DGFI.
During interrogation, the detainees confessed that they are active members of 'Ansar Al Islam' and had been conducting activities of the organisation in line with the ideology of Al-Qaeda after being inspired by the success of Taliban in Afghanistan.
They followed online speeches of Tamim Al Adnani, Harun Izhar and Gunobi and became inspired in militancy, joined 'Ansar Al Islam' and conducted its organisational and 'Dawati' activities in the northern region to collect new members.
The drives were conducted as a continuation of arresting five 'Ansar Al Islam' members of Khulna, Bagerhat and Gopalganj regions on August 31 last, said the press release, adding that further legal actions are being taken against the detainees.
