Bangladesh: 4 Pakistanis held with fake Indian rupees

Police in the capital have arrested 12 alleged militants, including a former Jamaat leader and an Afghan war veteran, with bombs, bomb-making materials and Tk 1.29 crore in fake Indian currency. Of the 12, all arrested on Friday night, one is a former Islami Chhatra Shibir leader and the rest are members of different terrorist outfits like Harkatul Jihad al Islami (Huji) and Harkatul Mujahideen and Allah’r Dal. In a separate drive the same night, the Detective Branch of police arrested four Pakistani nationals with fake 6.3 million Indian rupees. Briefing newsmen, DB Joint Commissioner Monirul Islam said the arrested Bangladeshis were preparing for subversive activities, including attacks on public gatherings and eminent personalities. To remain financially secure, they were counterfeiting money in coordination with the Pakistani nationals. The seizure also includes eight hand-made bombs, $400 in cash, 4,000 Pakistani rupees and seven passports — four Pakistani and three Bangladeshi. DB officials said they first arrested former Madaripur district Jamaat unit Ameer Dr Farid Uddin Ahammad, 55, Afghan war veteran Farid Uddin Masud, 35, former Shibir cadre Mizanur Rahman, 31, and militant activist Mahfuzur Rahman, 23, at a house on Free School Street, Kathal Bagan, with bombs and bomb-making materials. According to DB officials, Dr Farid and Masud had been reorganising the leaders and members of various militant outfits to establish Khilafat in Bangladesh through subversive activities. Dr Farid was a Shibir leader while studying at Sylhet Medical College. On completion of MBBS, he got involved in the committee of the Sylhet city unit Jamaat. As he hails from Madaripur, he acted as the ameer of the district unit Jamaat for a decade. Dr Farid, who took part in parliamentary elections as a Jamaat candidate, got involved with militant outfit Allah’r Dal, Huji and Harkatul Mujahideen. He was the ideologue of different militant outfits, Joint Commissioner Monirul said. In 1991, Dr Farid allied himself wth Farid Uddin Masud, who stayed in Pakistan till 2004 and got involved with Harkatul Jihad there. Another detainee, Mizanur Rahman, who is a former Shibir cadre, was also a leader of Allah’r Dal. Mizan, a former student of Dhaka University, also had been recruiting members for carrying out subversive activities under the directives of Dr Farid and Masud. DB officials said following the arrest of the four, they around 8:00pm arrested two others — Abdul Khalid and Mohammad Sajal — in Paltan area. On information given by the duo, detectives arrested six members of a gang, involved in making fake currencies, at a house in Nikunja-2 under Khilkhet area with counterfeit 66 lakh Indian rupees. The six are Md Mostofa, Mamunur Rashid, his wife Dolly Akhter, Md Abul Bashar, Rezaul Karim, and Roksana Begum. DB said following the arrest of the six, the force conducted a raid at a residential hotel in Bangshal from where they arrested four Pakistani nationals with fake 63 lakh Indian rupees. The detained Pakistanis — Sayeed Uddin, Mohammad Farhan, Rubina Begum and Nargis Akhter — have visited Bangladesh between six and 12 times. Nazrul Islam Mollah, deputy commissioner of DB (North), said Dr Farid, Masud, Mizan and Mahfuzur had been taken on remand for three days each, the Pakistani nationals for seven days each and the rest for four days each.