Harkatul Jihad (Huji) leader Mufti Abdul Hannan yesterday confessed to plotting and leading several gruesome grenade attacks, including those on the Udichi programme in Jessore, Ramna Batamul, and the British high commissioner in Sylhet. The Huji leader also admitted to planting a 76kg bomb at Kotalipara in Gopalganj near the meeting venue of the then prime minister Sheikh Hasina, attacking on the Sylhet City Corporation mayor on December 2, 2005, a rally of Awami League (AL) leader Suranjit Sengupta in Sunamganj on July 21, 2001, and AL leader Jebunnesa in Sylhet.Metropolitan Magistrate Shafique Anwar recorded Hannan's statement for about six hours from 2:00pm. Hannan gave the confessional statements after he was interrogated on remand for 170 days. Court sources said Hannan admitted that he himself led the bomb attack from the front at the Udichi cultural programme in Jessore on March 6, 1999 and planted the 76kg bomb at Kotalipara on July 20, 2000. The attack on the British high commissioner was carried out on May 21, 2004. He said seven Huji operatives, including two Dhaka College students--Hasan and Omar Faruq, carried out the attack on the Pahela Baishakh function at Ramna Batamul. The other attackers were Abu Taher, Sheikh Farid, Abu Bakar, Yeahia and Abdul Hye.
Hannan told the magistrate that the grenades were smuggled into Bangladesh and that one Tajuddin, owner of a wire factory at Chakbazar in Old Dhaka, used to supply the grenades and bombs. According to his statement, three Huji operatives were given the responsibility to collect funds for the attacks. They are Saudi expatriate Yunus bin Sharif of Chittagong, Mufti Shafiqur Rahman of Bhairab, and Abdul Hye Arabi of Comilla. Hannan also said they exploded 32 grenades in the attacks and smuggled out a similar number of grenades to India for attacks in Kolkata at different times.
The Huji leader said they established the Harkatul Jihad in 1989-90 and his leader was Abdur Rahman Faruqui who died during the Afghan war. Hannan said he ordered to attack the Udichi cultural function and that at Ramna Batamul because the programmes were anti-Islamic.