Masterminds behind militants fleeing custody identified: CTTC

The Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit has identified the mastermind and his accomplices involved with the two death row militants fleeing from police custody, CTTC Chief Md Asaduzzaman said today. 

While talking to reporters at the DMP media centre on Monday (21 November), Asaduzzaman did not, however, mention whether they will be arrested soon. 

Adding that the man who led the operation has been traced and identified, he said the others involved are also on their radar. 

"We cannot disclose their names due to the ongoing investigation," he added. 

The CTTC chief said that the militants are still in the country. 

Mentioning the 9/11 attacks in the US and the operation to kill Osama Bin Laden, he said, "Terrorism and militancy are complicated issues across the globe."

He added, "These men, who are active members of the 'Askari' unit of Ansar Al Islam, were arrested by the CTTC back in 2016. We have gathered vital information regarding the outfit. 

"They planned to whisk away all four of the militants, two of whom could not escape as they were brought from the terrorism tribunal a little while after the incident took place yesterday," Md Asaduzzaman told the media.

The CTTC officials visited the Kashimpur Central Jail in Gazipur to interrogate convicted and suspected extremists about the incident.

The unit's chief suspected that the militants might have plotted a bigger operation, but could not go through with it since only four of the extremists were escorted towards the CMM court lockup at that moment while the others were inside the court.

Asaduzzaman also said that Ansar al Islam, the extremist organisation linked to Al Qaeda in the Indian subcontinent, was banned by the Bangladesh government in 2017.