Alleged Neo-JMB member remanded in Anti-Terrorism Act case

A Dhaka court on Thursday placed an alleged member of the banned Neo-Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), Mohammad Arif alias Imran, 26, on a six-day remand in a case filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act with Savar Police Station.

Dhaka Senior Judicial Magistrate Tajul Islam Sohag granted the remand after investigation officer Inspector Nure Mohammad sought a 10-day remand, said prosecution division sub-inspector Bahaj Uddin.

According to the remand petition, the accused was detained by the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit during an operation in Savar’s BSCIC Industrial Tannery Estate on 11 August. Police claimed that they had recovered explosive-making materials, a steel pipe, a machete, a knife, a battery and a mobile phone from him.

The documents also claimed that police raided his rented house in South Shyampur and allegedly recovered chemicals, potassium nitrate, detonators, wires, pipe bomb remnants and jihad-related books.

According to police, Arif and his associates, inspired by the ideology of the Neo-JMB, were planning and attempting to carry out sabotage with the aim of damaging state property, endangering public safety and destabilising the situation in the country.

The remand petition claimed that Arif identified himself as an active member of the banned Neo-JMB. The investigation officer sought the remand to identify those involved and obtain other important information related to the case.