Ansarullah Bangla Team chief out of prison
Mufti Jashimuddin Rahmani, chief of the Ansarullah Bangla Team, an Al-Qaeda-inspired militant outfit now known as Ansar al Islam, was released from the Kashimpur High Security Central Jail in Gazipur on Sunday.
Counterterrorism officials and prosecution lawyers expressed concerns over the release of the prominent militant leader. They believe it would elevate the militancy threat and impede trials of cases filed against him under the Anti-Terrorism Act.
"We released Rahmani around 1:15pm on Sunday as he obtained bail in all cases filed against him," Subrata Kumar Bala, senior jail superintendent of Kashimpur jail, told The Daily Star last night.
Rahmani was arrested on August 12, 2013, in Barguna, along with 30 members of his outfit, in connection with inciting people to commit violence.
He had been in jail since then.
Six cases were filed against him, and the police pressed charges against him in all the cases.
On December 31, 2015, a Dhaka court sentenced him to five years in jail in a case filed with Pallabi Police Station over the murder of blogger Rajib Haider.
Rahmani has served the time.
Two cases filed with Mohammadpur Police Station, one with Gulshan Police Station, one with Barguna Sadar Police Station, and one with Uttara Paschim Police Station are pending trial.
He got bail from the Anti-Terrorism Special Tribunal of Dhaka in two cases in 2020 and 2022. He received bail from the High Court in the other three cases in 2022, 2023, and January 10 of this year.
Md Asaduzzaman, chief of the Counter-Terrorism and Transitional Crime unit, told The Daily Star last night that his release was an issue of concern for them.
"We are now trying to track down Rahmani and he will be under our monitoring. And we believe we will be able to avert any untoward situations," he added.
Golam Sharuar Khan, assistant public prosecutor of the Anti-Terrorism Special Tribunal in Dhaka, believes that the release of Rahmani would impact the ongoing trials.
"As Rahmani has been released on bail … it is likely to impact the trials. Prosecution witnesses may become afraid of going to court to testify against the accused," Golam told The Daily Star last night.
"We will try to produce the witnesses before the court and complete the trials of the pending cases as soon as possible."
The Ansarullah Bangla Team came to the fore after the killing of blogger Rajib Haider on February 15, 2013. The group was banned in May 2015.
The outfit was found involved in the killing of four bloggers and writers. It was also found involved in the murders of Xulhaz Mannan, an LGBT rights activist, and his friend Khandoker Mahbub Rabby Tonoy in 2016.
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