11 held for ‘funding militancy’ in Dhaka

Members of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) in separate drives have arrested 11 persons for their alleged involvement in funding militancy.

The arrestees are Toly Nath, 40, Md Faysal alias Tuhin, 37, Amzad Hossain, 34, Moin Khan, 33, Md Nahid 30, Md Jahed Ullah, 29, Md Helal Uddin, 29, Helal Uddin, 29, Al Amin, 23, Al Mamun, 20, and Al Amin, 23.

On intelligence that Wahmi Technologies, an IT firm based in Mirpur of Dhaka, has link with the terror financing, a team of Rab-4 carried out synchronised drives in Dhaka, Khulna and Rajshahi yesterday.

Eight out of the 11 were arrested in Dhaka, two from Khulna and another form Rajshahi area, Mufti Mahmud Khan, legal and media wing director of Rab, said at a press briefing today.

Of them, seven earlier worked for iBacs Ltd, a software company established in 2005, which has been banned in Bangladesh and the UK in 2015 after its chairman Saiful Haque Sujon was killed in Syria on December 10 same year.

The company, which had its headquarters in the UK, opened branches in eight other countries.  

According to Rab, iBacks Ltd in 2015 had sent around $50000 to Gulshan Café attack chief coordinator Tamim Chowdhury in Bangladesh. But the crime busters seized the money before it reached to Tamim.

Another financer held in Spain

Rab established communication with their Spanish counterparts and shared information about Ataul, a Bangladesh national, who the elite force claimed used to finance in militacy.

Law enforcers in Spain recently arrested Ataul following the lead of Rab, Mufti added.