[Bangla Daily Star] Four senior Laskar-e-Taiyeba leaders who are hiding in Bangladesh are also serving as teachers in different madrasas of the country providing their fake identities like detained Mufti Obaidullah, detective branch (DB) sources said. Of the four, Indian national Moulana Mansur Ali and Pakistani national Moulana Habibullah are teachers of two madrasas in Dhaka while two others outside the capital, according to the sources. Sources, however, refused to disclose the names of two other Indian fugitive militants.Meanwhile, DB police are also looking into whether Obaidulla had links to the August 21 grenade attack on an Awami League rally, and bomb attacks at Ramna Batamul and Udichi function in Jessore.
DB sources said on the first day of seven-day remand, Indian militant Mufti Obaidullah confessed that Laskar-e-Taiyeba and like minded Asif Reza Commando Force (ARCF) mainly expanded their networks through former fighters from Afghanistan and Kashmir wars and also through the students of Deoband madrasa. Sources suspect that qawmi madrasas have a vital role in setting up of the network as these madrasas gave them shelters and teaching jobs by accepting their fake identities. Besides, among the militant organisations active in the country, the Indian militants have closest links with the leaders of Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami (Huji), sources added.
The DB officials also suspect that Pakistan-based militant organisation Laskar-e-Taiyeba and ARCF provide them financial assistance to carry out its activities in Bangladesh and the money is supplied by hand.
Deputy Commissioner Monirul Islam of DB-South told The Daily Star that the Laskar-e-Taiyeba leaders are working as madrasa teachers in different parts of the country. He said Laskar-e-Taiyeba leaders have links to various militant organisations in the country but they are very much close to the Huji leaders. He also said Obaidullah had close contacts with Huji leaders Abdur Rouf, Mufti Hannan, Moulana Tajuddin, Moulana Abdus Salam as all the militant leaders were also Afghan war veterans.
Monirul said Mufti Obaidullah would be grilled in the Taskforce Intelligence cell from today.
Assistant Commissioner Sanwar Hossain of DB told The Daily Star that during the preliminary interrogation, Obaidullah so far disclosed the names of 26 people, including six Huji leaders. Of the six Huji leaders, two have been detained by the law-enforcers, AC Sanwar said adding, "Obaidullah said that there are some similarities between Laskar-e-Taiyeba and Huji. But they do not work like Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh."