Two militants of Bangladeshi group held

Bangladesh police have arrested two alleged operatives of banned Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) from south-eastern port city of Chittagong, a police spokesman said.

ABT is blamed for a series of attacks on secular writers, activists and followers of minority religious faiths. Analysts believe the banned group’s members are inclined to al-Qaeda. ABT’s top leader, Ziaul Haque, a renegade army major, is on the run.

Police last month announced a bounty leading to arrests of the fugitive major and Bangladeshi-Canadian Tamim Chowdhury describing the latter as the top leader of Neo-Jamaatul Mujahideen

Mamunur Rashid Ripon and Khaled went to the neighbouring country (India) in April and they have been hiding there since then. MONIRUL ISLAM, chief of counterterrorism and transnational crimes unit

(neo-JMB).

The neo-JMB, known to be linked to Islamic State, carried out the July 1 terrorist attack at Dhaka’s Holey Artisan restaurant, killing 22 people including 17 foreigners and an Indian girl.

Chowdhury was killed in a security raid at a militant hideout at Narayanganj on the outskirts of the capital along with two other alleged terrorists on August 27.

JMB LEADERS IN INDIA?

Bangladesh suspects two top leaders of a reorganised JMB took secret refuge in India to mobilise weaponry and financial support for the banned group to carry out the July 1 terrorist attack on a Dhaka cafe, according to reports on Thursday.

One of the two leaders, Shariful Islam Khaled, is also blamed for hacking to death a liberal university professor, who was on way to work, in April.

Mamunur Rashid Ripon alias Jahangir and Khaled left for India in April, days after the murder of the Rajshahi University professor, The Daily Star reported.

“(Mamunur Rashid) Ripon and Khaled went to the neighbouring country in April and they have been hiding there since then,” it quoted police’s counterterrorism and transnational crimes unit chief Monirul Islam as saying.

He said Bangladesh has already informed India about the militants’ possible stay in Kolkata.