Abul Kalam, 22, who has been involved with Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) for about two years, also confessed that he had met Jagrata Muslim Janata, Bangladesh (JMJB) operations commander Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai in Bagmara at the beginning of this year.

Special security measures have been taken at the courthouses across the country following Monday's terrorist attacks. Some of the court building kept doors and windows shut yesterday for fear of renewed attacks.

Two of the three bombers caught on the Chittagong court premises admitted to being members of Shaheed Nasrullah Al Arafat Brigade (Snab), the newly formed military wing of the JMB and JMJB.

The family of JMB cadre Masum, 22, who was caught while hurling bombs at Laxmipur court on Monday, is involved with Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, a key component of the ruling four-party alliance.

Masum was taken on a five-day remand after Laxmipur police had produced him before a court yesterday.

Acknowledging the family's involvement with Jamaat politics, Masum's mother told police that her husband is a rokon [full member] of Jamaat while her other sons are activists.

The family lives at Alinagar in Bandar upazila of Narayanganj.

Masum, whose father Mofazzal Hossain is a hosiery trader of Nayamati in Narayanganj town, is a student of management at Titumir College in the capital.

"We have been out of contact with him since April," Masum's mother told police, claiming that no one from her family did know anything about his involvement in militant activities.

Masum during interrogation yesterday told police that he used to stay at a rented house at Wireless Bazar in Chandpur.

A joint team of Chandpur and Laxmipur police yesterday raided the house and seized some books and booklets.

Laxmipur police suspect that Masum had a role in staging the August 17 blasts in the district.

"We're interrogating him but he has yet to give any information regarding the August 17 attacks," Laxmipur Superintendent of Police Fazlur Rahman told The Daily Star.

Police yesterday gathered that Masum's Arabic teacher Nesar Uddin, who is now on the run, had in fact persuaded him to join the militant organisation.

Police held Nesar's associates Nurul Haq, 45, and Selim, 25, in Madhabpasha area in Bandar upazila yesterday on suspicion of having links to JMB.

Officer-in-Charge of Bandar Police Station Abdus Salam told reporters that the two have confessed their role in the August 17 blasts in Narayanganj and Narsinghdi.

In another development, Bazlur Rahman, nazir of Joint District Judge Abu Sufian, who was injured in Laxmipur court blast, filed a case with Sadar Police Station Monday in this connection.

Meanwhile, Chandpur police produced JMB activist Abul Kalam and his associate Sohrab Hossain alias Belal, 23, before a court yesterday with a petition for a 10-day remand. The court granted the prayer for the two.

Abul Kalam of Chandina upazila in Comilla said he had received training in martial art at different parts of the country including Bagmara in Rajshahi, Comilla, and Narayanganj.

"He has yet to give us information about his mentors. He has divulged some names but we are yet to find people by those [names]," Chandpur SP BM Harunur Rashid told The Daily Star last night.

Though seems to be a new recruit in the JMB, Belal has not yet given away any significant information, he observed.

Our Chittagong correspondent reports: Two of the three youths apprehended during the blasts at Chittagong courts have also been learnt to be the members of Snab.

The recently assembled hit group had carried out the Monday's attacks while Dawati (recruiting) group of the banned Islamist outfit co-ordinated those.

Laltu alias Anam, 20, is a member of Snab while Shahadat Hossain of the Dawati group.

Investigators, meanwhile, have yet to get information about the other detainee Dulal Chowdhury's role in the outfit. A notorious criminal of Patiya upazila, he stands accused in seven criminal cases including one for murder.

Laltu and Shahdat were placed on a 10-day remand each yesterday.

A group of four comprising Laltu, Shahadat, Mehedi, and Mohammad were responsible for the Monday's explosions in Chittagong.

Mohammad was at the helm of Chittagong division while Mizan, who was in charge of Cox's Bazar, made the bombs used in the courthouse attack, Laltu and Shahadat said in their confessional statements.

Army explosive experts defused two bombs at Chittagong Jila Krira Sangstha Stadium ground yesterday afternoon. The bombs were recovered unexploded from the blast site.

Mehedi had managed to flee the scene of the Monday's attack, blasting a less powerful bomb on the corridor of the court building. He kept the bomb inside a geometry box he was carrying. Besides, he had another powerful bomb kept in a thick book like object.

Laltu further admitted that he was assigned to explode bombs at Bazarghata in Cox's Bazar on August 17.

The two detainees also told the law enforcers that most of them would sport beard but they shaved the beards off immediately after the August 17 blasts.

Acting on the confession by Laltu, police yesterday raided Mohammad Ali's mess at Uttar Kattoli and recovered one LG, two bullets, some bomb-making materials, and a dairy, police said.

SECURITY MEASURES
With the latest trend of the militants to use camouflage and openly attack the courts, judges and magistrates, the deputy commissioners (DC) have been ordered to ensure close watch on the court premises.

"Since there is a constitutional obligation to keep the courts open to public, the law enforcers will rather go for checking people at the entrance," said a source present at a meeting on law and order held at the home ministry.

Following the instructions, police searched the body of court-goers including parties of different cases, lawyers and court officials before allowing them on the court compounds. The passers-by and vehicles were also checked.

Besides, the law enforcers at different courts did not allow people to wander aimlessly in the court areas.

Rapid Action Battalion men have been deployed at courts in Chittagong.

At yesterday's meeting, the law enforcers were asked to have people helping them with the security arrangement.

It also ordered round-the-clock surveillance on cinemas, messes and guesthouses and asked local police administrations to collect information and search people with suspicious movement.

As it is not possible for the law enforcers alone to ensure security across the country, the ministry asked owners of shopping malls in Dhaka and elsewhere in the country to install close-circuit televisions, metal detectors, archways and, if possible, explosive detectors on their own initiative.

The meeting asked the DCs to expedite the entire process.