A recent investigation by The Daily Star also reveals that Moulana Washiqur Rahman, who has been on the run since the countrywide serial blasts, was always the host to militant kingpin Bangla Bhai or other JMB top brass whenever they visited the area.

Described by locals as a leader of ruling coalition partner Jamaat-e-Islami, Washiqur hails from Taluigachhi village.

The list he is on with 39 JMB men has already been distributed among the law enforcers across the country, said sources in Satkhira police.

Jamaat lawmaker from Satkhira-2 constituency Moulana Abdul Khaleq Mondal however said Washiqur is only a supporter, he does not hold any post in the party.

Asked whether he knows anything about Washiqur bearing direct links to Jama'atul Mujahideen, the lawmaker said he [Washiqur] is not involved in the militant outfit, rather an anti-Ahle Hadith group is spreading such falsehood about him.

Locals said Washiqur has a very close personal relationship with the local Jamaat lawmaker and if the people should meet Khaleq Mondal, they have to go through Washiqur.

The investigation also yields that JMB members would preach the outfit's objectives and ideals to the villagers in mosques across the remote locality of Satkhira in the months leading up to August 17. At least 200 people from Kushkhali, Talugachhi, Banshdah, Baliadanga, Narayanjole and Badhilki villages regularly attended the extremist indoctrination.

Situated along the Indian border over 15 kilometres off the district headquarters, those villages would hardly come under routine surveillance of the law enforcers before the August 17 blasts.

Some 100 of the indoctrinated villagers used to take part in physical training conducted by the JMB in the dead of night while around 20 others took part in a specialised training in making bombs, said a number of villagers.

"The group of hardcore JMB cadres, who would also watch videos on Afghan and Iraq wars, took the training inside a thick bush stretched over 30 acres of land," a local of Kushkhali village told The Daily Star.

The man from Kushkhali trembled with fear while talking about those dreaded JMB men. He opened up to the correspondent not before making sure the doors and windows of his house are shut. Two youths from neighbouring Taluigachhi had joined him and gave a similar picture of the militants' activities in the villages.

As the police mounted a watch on the villages soon after the August bombings, the militants went into hiding. But of late, they have started to return home with shaven beards, taking advantage of the slackness of the law enforcers, said locals seeking anonymity.

A top investigator wishing not to be named said almost every house in Kushkhali village has a JMB cadre.

After Maghreb prayers every Thursday, the local JMB activists would assemble in the village mosques where the leaders would brief them on the impending war to establish Islamic rule in the country, said a man who once had attended the preaching.

Some 50 others coming from outside the locality including Munna, Nasir and Indian national Giasuddin, who were arrested in connection with the August 17 blasts in Satkhira, used to participate in the briefing.

"The participants from the outside never gave their real names when locals queried," he added.

"About a year ago, Bangla Bhai visited South Taluigachhi Jam-e mosque near the house of Jamaat Rokan Moulana Washiqur Rahman and preached to the villagers about jihad," said another man of the village.

He said people even from Kashmir and Afghanistan frequented the village mosques and delivered speeches in their mother tongues, usually translated by local JMB men.

The hands-on trainings in handling explosives were never confined to a certain place, rather they shifted from place to place, said another man of Kushkhali village.

RAJI
Fakruddin Raji, listed by police as a divisional commander of JMB, too has come of a family having long been involved with Jamaat politics.

Raji of Patharghata village in Kalaroa upazila has been on the run since the serial blasts on August 17.

Raji's brother Wahiduzzaman, a Jamaat Rokan, said his brother has no connection with the Jamaat. "We, the other three brothers, are involved with Jamaat," he added.

Soon after Galib's arrest, the family had asked Raji to dissociate himself from JMB politics and warned him of tough punishment if he did not abide by the family decision.