One Mohammad, chief of Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) of Chittagong region, collected the money after it was sent from the Dhaka chapter of JMB to the Agrabad branch of Islami Bank, he said.

A top official of Islami Bank however said, "We [bank officials] are not supposed to know anything about how the money was spent after it was withdrawn [from bank] by a client."

At the helm of Chittagong JMB, Mohammad [believed to be a pseudonym] is a student of Islamic studies department at Dhaka University. Hailed from Cox's Bazar, he also functions as the treasurer of an Ahle Hadith Mosque in the port city.

Mohammad and some other JMB activists had procured a large quantity of powdered explosives from Chittagong and sent those to Dhaka in several phases in between May and August, the investigator said, requesting anonymity.

Packed in cartons, the explosives were channelled to Dhaka through passenger buses and courier services. Later, the packs of explosives were dispatched to other areas across the country in similar fashion, the investigator added.

The investigators now are trying to gather whether the same man has accounts with any other banks and there was any shady transaction involving him.

The investigator said those vital leads had been extracted from some of the people held recently by Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP).

The arrestees are Abdus Sattar Mollah, Jahangir Alam, Arshadul Alam, Ahmad alias Abul Kalam Azad, Azizul Haq Farazi, and Sadrul who is a nephew of detained Ahle Hadith Andolon Bangladesh (Ahab) Chief Asadullah al Galib.

They said it was not Galib, rather it was JMB Chief Abdur Rahman and Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai, operations commander of Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB), who had masterminded the August 17 explosions.

Quoting the arrestees, an intelligence official of Chittagong said Bangla Bhai had visited Chittagong around four years ago. He also went to the house of Sadrul Alam, the chief of Chittagong unit Ahab, and threatened that he [Sadrul] would face dire consequences if he discloses to police anything about the armed militants.

The official also said Sattar Mollah detonated the bombs on the road connecting the city with Chittagong port with the help of an unidentified man from Dhaka. He did the job following direction from Mohammad.

He said Arshadul Alam, another arrestee, might be in charge of staging the explosions in Comilla.

Following the statements of the arrestees, law enforcers have made a list of a dozen people suspected to have links to the near-simultaneous blasts that rocked all but one district.

UNB reports: Sadrul Alam, foreman of TSP Fertiliser Factory in Chittagong, was suspended from his job yesterday for alleged links to militancy and the countrywide blasts. The factory authorities ordered the suspension after the local JIC team found 'his involvement in the blasts'.

Our Satkhira correspondent reports: Police and intelligence agencies arrested a suspected top leader of the Jama'atul Mudar'resin (group of teachers) Bangladesh in village Tengra-Bhabanipur of sadar upazila on Friday night.

A team led by Delwar Hossain, assistant superintendent of police (Satkhira Sadar Circle), arrested Riazul Islam Riaz, 35, after he was connected to August 17 blasts by detained JMB activists Nasir Uddin and Maniruzzaman Munna.

Police sources said a field-level worker of Shandhani Life Insurance Company, Reaz got involved with Ahle Hadith in 1987 while he was in Kuwait. He attended a meeting held at Kushkhali Moralbari Mosque on August 11 and took part in planning the blasts in the district for August 17.

Police yesterday produced him before a court of first class magistrate to petition for him to be placed on a 10-day remand. But the hearing on the remand prayer was not held. It is likely to be held today.

Meanwhile, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officials tasked with probing the blasts in Satkhira brought back to the district yesterday Mahbubur Rahman Liton, Alamgir Hossain, and Mamunur Rashid after completion of eight days' remand in the custody of JIC in Dhaka. The three are JMB cadres arrested in connection with the explosions.

Of them, Liton was taken on an eight-day remand the same day while the other two were sent to jail. The CID officials produced Liton before a court, seeking afresh a 10-day remand for him.

Our correspondent from Khulna adds: Detective police in Khulna arrested a top leader of Ahab and a suspected trainer of militants at a house in Zia Nagar upazila of Pirozpur around midnight Friday.

Of the arrestees, Abdur Rahim Salafi alias Bagerhati, 50, is the ameer of Bagerhat district unit Ahle Hadith Jubo Andolon.

Police quoting Salafi said JMB chief Abdur Rahman had visited Khulna twice in 2001 and 2003 to recruit militants.

Salafi has been placed on a three-day remand by a court in an August 17 blasts case.

In another development, police arrested four suspected operatives of Ahab in a village of Mongla upazila of Bagerhat on Friday. They made the arrests while the four were holding a secret meeting.

The arrestees, Jubair Dhali, Asadullah Dhali, Yusuf Dhali, and Mohsin, were sent to JIC in the capital yesterday.

LEAFLETS RECOVERED
Police arrested Ahsan Habib in Patgudam area of Mymensingh with books and leaflets of Harkatul Jihad, another banned Islamist outfit, on Thursday. He was later taken on a five-day remand, reports UNB.

Habib, who hails from Pakundia upazila of Kishoreganj, is the son of Habibur Rahman, former assistant registrar of Bangladesh Agriculture University.

UNB from Chapainawabganj reports: JMB militants distributed leaflets by post throughout government and private institutions, banks, court buildings, newspaper offices, press club, and police stations, causing panic among the people.

Our Nilphamari correspondent reports: Leaflets lauding the activities of JMB were found in Saidpur Press Club on Friday.

They carried the name of 'Islam Raksha Parishad' [organisation dedicated to safeguarding Islam]. Printed on rich-looking paper and packed in the government postal envelopes, the leaflets were dropped in the letterbox of the press club on Thursday.

PROBE REPORT NOT FILED
The probe committee formed to investigate the August 17 countrywide serial bomb blasts could not submit its report until last night, said a member of the probe body.

The probe report was supposed to be submitted by yesterday.

Headed by Additional IGP of the Special Branch of police Farrukh Ahmad Chowdhury, the seven-member committee was constituted the day after the blasts.

The committee was asked to report to the home ministry within a fortnight after a "thorough inquiry" into the bomb explosions.