Jamaat chief’s son arrested for alleged militant link
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Shafiqur Rahman's son Rafat Sadik Saifullah has been arrested for his alleged involvement in militancy, according to police.
The Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit of Dhaka Metropolitan Police arrested Rafat, a suspected leader of banned militant outfit Ansar-Al Islam, from Sylhet on Wednesday.
Subsequently, he was brought to Dhaka for further interrogation, an additional deputy commissioner of the counter terrorism unit's bomb disposal unit confirmed the matter to The Business Standard on Wednesday evening.
On Wednesday night, The Business Standard approached Jamaat Ameer (chief) Shafiqur Rahman and the party's Publicity Secretary Matiur Rahman Akhand for comment, but to no avail.
Rafat Sadik Saifullah is an intern doctor at Ragib Rabeya Medical College in Sylhet. He has been leading banned militant outfit Ansal Al Islam's Sylhet region as coordinator, according to counter terrorism unit sources.
Rafat's name came out during the interrogation of three militants arrested from Dhaka's Jatrabari recently, according to the sources.
"Rafat Sadik is a top leader of the militant outfit's Sylhet chapter. He has been carrying out militant activities for a long time," said a top official of the unit.
According to officials of the unit, Rafat last year travelled the hill tracts after contacting both Rakhine armed organisations "Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army" and "Rohingya Solidarity Organisation". He held a meeting with the Rohingya Solidarity Organisation leaders at Bandarban's Naikhongchhari border.
On 1 November, three members of the banned militant organisation Ansar Al Islam were arrested from the capital's Saidabad area.
They are – Sejadul Islam Sahab Tanim elias Isa alias Arafat alias Anwar alias Anbir, Zahid Hasan Bhuiyan and Syed Riaz Ahmad.
On 6 November, they gave a statement in court where they admitted that each of them "joined" the outfit through Rafat Sadik.