Police have drawn information from two suspected members of Jamatul Ansar Fil Hindal Sharqiya, including how the new militant group trained recruits, tackled rebellions ‘brutally’ and fought a tribal organisation in the Chattogram Hill Tracts.
The suspects – Saiful Islam Tuhin, 21, and Nayeem Hossain, 22 – are among around 30 arrested for their alleged links to Jamatul Ansar, reports bdnews24.com.
Police said they identified 38 out of 55 youths who had left home to join the outfit which arranged training with the help of separatist group Kuki-Chin National Front or the Bawm Party.
Police had earlier arrested Sadiq Saifullah Rafat, son of Jamaat-e-Islami chief Shafiqur Rahman, for his alleged involvement with Jamatul Ansar. Shafiqur was also arrested on charges of aiding militant activities of Jamatul Ansar.
The latest arrestees – Tuhin was a student of a madrasa in Sylhet and Nayeem was studying at Agriculture Training Institute in Dhaka’s Sher-e-Bangla Nagar. After apprehending them on Wednesday, police’s Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime or CTTC unit said on Thursday that the duo stayed in the Jamatul Ansar camp for around a year.
REBELLION
Citing Tuhin and Nayeem, CTTC chief Md Asaduzzaman said at a press conference not all the recruits willingly stayed in the camp or migrated for training.
“Many of them were lured to the hills with false promises. But after entering the camp, they did not have the opportunity to return.”
CTTC said in a statement four members from Sylhet wanted to return home from the camp. As punishment, they were tied to trees for days and were given one meal a day.
Later, the Jamatul Ansar leaders forced them to sign a deal that stipulated several conditions – they must stay until 2023, cook for themselves and cannot speak to others.
The four rebels tried to flee but were caught by the Bawm Party and faced “inhumane torture”.
Members of Jamatul Ansar treated the rebels like slaves and gave them up to 100 lashings a day.
For three months, the rebels were forced to clean everyone’s clothes, cut logs and do other tasks. They were tied up at night.
TRAINING AND GUNBATTLE
Tuhin and Nayeem told police they were trained to use firearms by dummies, air-guns and then locally made guns after physical training.
The group’s leader Shamin Mahfuz lived in a separate room and had armed guards posted outside.
Bawm Party leader Nathan Bawm met only Shamin during visits to the camp. Police had earlier said Shamin was close to Nathan when they were students of Dhaka University. Shamin studied sociology while Nathan was a student of the university’s Faculty of Fine Arts.
On Thursday, police said Tuhin and Nayeem learnt after training they would need to travel to India’s Mizoram for more training.
As many as 55 members of Jamatul Ansar and 200 of the Bawm Party started for Mizoram one day. They camped near the border for around a week after walking for five to six days.
After failing to cross the border, they waited in another camp in the jungle for two months.
One day, another hill tracts group, Janasanghati Samiti, attacked the camp and a Jamatul Ansar member, known as Dr Ahmed, died in the gun battle.
After Shamin left the camp, Tuhin, Nayeem and another member left it in November. Police later tracked and arrested them.
Police said Jamatul Ansar has recruited 70 to 80 members since 2021. They camped in the hills for training. The group planned to carry out attacks in the plains and return to the camp.