Rouf, 42, during his arrest in Faridur in 2003, admitted that he had received military training in Pakistan and participated in the previous war in Afghanistan against the erstwhile Soviet Union.

Apart from working as a trainer for banned Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) across the country while teaching at madrasas, Rouf also confessed to having links with two Arakan rebel groups.

On September 19, 2003 Faridpur police arrested Rouf, a teacher of Jibontola Jamia Islamia Nurul Ulum Koami Madarasa at Bhaluka in Mymensingh, along with 17 others including the madrasa principal Shahidul Islam from a BNP leader's house at Boalmari in the district.

The law enforcers also recovered a huge number of toll collection receipts, seven audio-cassettes containing recruitment lectures inviting people to join Islami Jihad and other documents.

The news of the arrest with a photograph was published on September 21 in almost every national daily of the country.

His whereabouts has not been known until yesterday's arrest since he was taken to the Joint Interrogation Cell for quizzing after his arrest from Boalmari in 2003.

Other arrestees at the time said they had been raising funds to purchase weapons for an armed revolution, or Jihad.

A court at the time, however, released the other 16 militants as police did not bring any allegation against them.

Rouf, son of Moulana Yahia hails from Majumdarkandi village under Rajoir upazila in Madaripur district, went to Deoband madrasa in India for his education in 1982.

After his education, he went to Karachi in Pakistan in 1989 to receive guerrilla training and participated in the Afghan war for four years, Rouf told reporters after his 2003 arrest.

Coming back to the country from the Afghan war in 1992, he stayed at his village for several years and started imparting military training to 50 madrasa students in Madaripur, Rouf said.

During the period, he also came in touch with two Arakan rebel outfits. He was arrested along with 40 Arakan militants in 1995 and was jailed for five months.

Later, he joined Jibontola madrasa as a teacher in 1998 and worked under the banner of Al-Jamiatul Islamia.

Another arrested teacher of the madrasa Ali Akbar at the time said the students were given different physical exercises and trained in karate and combat.

Rab sources said they had intelligence report that Rouf supplied bombs to 27 districts before the August 27 blasts.

He went in hiding after the countrywide blasts but sources said he was reorganising Islamist militants in Feni.