Jamatul Ansar has been fighting tribal groups in CHT, police said | Popgen Tech

Police extracted information from two suspected Jamatul Ansar Fil Hindal Sharqiya members, including how the new militant group trained recruits, tackled the ‘British’ rebellion and fought a tribal organization in the Chattogram Hill Tracts.

The suspects – Saiful Islam Tuhin, 21, and Nayeem Hossain, 22 – are among about 30 arrested for their alleged links to Jamatul Ansar, reports bdnews24.com.

Police said they have identified 38 of the 55 youths who left their homes to join the team that organized training with the help of the separatist group Kuki-Chin National Front or Bawm Party.

Police earlier arrested Sadiq Saifullah Rafat, son of Jamaat-e-Islami chief Shafiqur Rahman, for his alleged involvement with Jamatul Ansar. Shafiqur was also arrested on charges of aiding militant activities of Jamatul Ansar.

The latest arrestees – Tuhin was a student of a madrasa in Sylhet and Nayeem was studying at the Agriculture Training Institute in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Dhaka. After their arrest on Wednesday, the Police Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit or CTTC said on Thursday that the duo had been staying in the Jamatul Ansar camp for about a year.

REBELLION

Citing Tuhin and Nayeem, CTTC chief Md Asaduzzaman said in a press conference that not all recruits want to stay in the camp or migrate for training.

“Many of them were lured to the mountains with false promises. But after entering the camp, they had no possibility of returning.”

CTTC said in a statement that four members from Sylhet wanted to return home from the camp. As punishment, they were tied to trees for several days and given one meal a day.

After that, Jamatul Ansar leaders were forced to sign a contract with several conditions – they must stay until 2023, feed themselves and cannot talk to others.

The four rebels tried to flee but were caught by the Bawm Party and faced “inhuman torture”.

Members of Jamatul Ansar treated the rebels like slaves and gave them up to 100 lashes a day.

For three months, the rebels had to clean everyone’s clothes, cut logs and do other work. They were tied at night.

Training and weapons

Tuhin and Nayeem said the police were trained to use firearms by dummy, air weapons and then locally made weapons after physical training.

The group’s leader, Shamin Mahfuz, lived in a separate room and had armed guards posted outside.

Bawm Party leader Nathan Bawm only met Shamin during the visit to the camp. Police said Shamin was close to Nathan when they were students of Dhaka University. Shamin studied sociology while Nathan was a student at the university’s Faculty of Fine Arts.

On Thursday, police said Tuhin and Nayeem learned after training they would need to travel to Mizoram, India for further training.

As many as 55 members of Jamatul Ansar and 200 of Bawm Party started for Mizoram one day. They camped near the border for about a week after walking for five to six days.

After they did not cross the border, they waited two months in another camp in the forest.

One day, another group of hill tracts, Janasanghati Samiti, attacked the camp and a member of Jamatul Ansar, known as Dr. Ahmed, was killed in the gun battle.

After Shamin left the camp, Tuhin, Nayeem and another member left it in November. The police followed and later arrested them.

Police said Jamatul Ansar had recruited 70 to 80 members since 2021. They camped in the hills for training. The group planned to raid the plains and return to camp.