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| Bangladesh |
| Ex-Huji chief out on bail |
| 2009-07-21 |
| Maulana Sheikh Abdus Salam, former chief of banned militant outfit Harkatul Jihad al Islami (Huji) who was arrested in connection with the 2001 CPB rally blast case, was released on bail yesterday from Dhaka Central Jail. Jail officials said they received an order for his release Sunday from the Sessions Judge's Court, Dhaka, which issued the bail order. "Receiving the bail order, we reported it to different intelligence agencies for checking as Salam allegedly has links with a banned militant organisation. On receiving clearance from the intelligence agencies we released him around 3:00pm," Deputy Jailer Kamrul Islam told The Daily Star yesterday. Meanwhile, the home ministry yesterday ordered an intelligence agency to investigate the setting up of a charity called Faruqi Welfare Foundation by Huji. The foundation obtained a certificate from the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms (RJSC) on June 29 last year. Home Secretary Abdus Sobhan Sikder told The Daily Star yesterday, "We have asked the Special Branch of police to investigate the matter and report to the home ministry in details about the foundation and its activities." The instructions from the home ministry came a day after The Daily Star ran a report headlined "Huji managed even a charity licence" in its Sunday issue. Huji, which operates in the country under different other names to hide itself from intelligence watch, formed a political party named Islamic Democratic Party (IDP) in May last year with approval from the caretaker government. Salam is the convener of IDP that had applied to the Election Commission for registration in November, 2008 but was rejected. Two of Salam's party leaders, Abu Taher and Arif Hasan Sumon, are charge-sheeted accused in a case filed in connection with the grenade attack on an Awami League rally on August 21, 2004. They are now in jail. His two other party leaders Maulana Monir and Hafiz Idris, who were arrested for their involvement in various militant activities, have jumped bail. Three other leaders Maulana Sheikh Farid, Maulana Abdul Hye and Mufti Shafiqur Rahman are accused in the Ramna Batamul blast case and are now on the run. Members of an intelligence agency had picked up Sheikh Salam on March 23 at his home in Bashundhara Residential Area in connection with the CPB rally blast that killed five people at Paltan Maidan on January 20, 2001. The government outlawed Huji in October, 2005. The militant group carried out several bomb and grenade attacks between 1998 and 2004. It is also blacklisted by the US and the UK. Abdus Salam led a group of Afghan war returnees to launch Huji at a press conference at the National Press Club on April 30, 1992. |
| Posted by:Fred |