The Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has arrested Hasibur Rahman aka Azam Al Ghalib, the chief of banned Islamist outfit Ansar al-Islam’s online 'preaching' branch.
Hasibur, one of the organisation’s so-called ‘trinity of online terror’, was arrested from the Beribadh area of Dhaka’s Uttara North Thana on Sunday.
The CTTC claims his arrest will lead to an 80 per cent decrease in militant propaganda online, reports bdnews24.com.
The squad says 21-year-old Hasibur passed his SSC exams in 2016 and was studying for his HSC exams at Dhaka’s Oxford International College when he was introduced to the ideology of violent extremism and militancy.
Around that time, he began reading a massive amount of extremist books and became involved with the Facebook accounts Jamil Hassan and Md Jamshed Hossein, which spread the ideology and worldview of the radical group Ansar al Islam and international terrorist network Al Qaeda.
The accounts wrote various pieces on the Taliban and Al Qaeda and spread news about them and they inspired Hasibur, the CTTC said
“Hasibur is from Patuakhali’s Mohipur area,” said Md Asaduzzaman, CTTC chief. “He was one part of a ‘trinity’ of online propagandists that also included Al Amin Siddiqi and Jobaida Siddika Nabila, who have also been arrested by the CTTC.”
“They used a number of social media and online platforms to spread the ideology of Ansar al-Islam and to call for the swift institution of Sharia law. Hasibur served as the head of Ansar al-Islam’s online dawah branch.
In 2019, Hasibur began writing on social media after his indoctrination into the Al Qaeda and Ansar al-Islam ideology.
He adopted the name ‘Azam Al Ghalib’ on Facebook and also opened a Telegram channel, where he wrote in support of Ansar al-Islam and Al Quaeda. He also opened another Facebook page under the name Muahid Muslim.
He then sent out invitations to the page and gathered more members. Facebook authorities shut down the page when it was reported for spreading militant propaganda.
“Most recently he was using the Facebook ID Abdullah Ghalib Azam,” the CTTC chief said. “He also worked to secure bail for Ansar al-Islam members in jail through mobile banking.”
Hasibur connected with Al Amin and Jobaida through their ‘Jayed Ibne Ali’ and ‘Shafayet Musanna Isar’ accounts and spread propaganda to try and radicalise people.
Law enforcers say extremist content was found on the mobile phone seized alongside Hasibur and on his Facebook, Messenger, and Telegram apps.