Dhaka (AsiaNews) - Police in Bangladesh have announced the arrest of four terrorists belonging to the Islamic state (IS), a terrorist organization that has taken control of a part of Syria and Iraq. Police have released the names of those arrested: Sakhawatul Kabir, the alleged coordinator of the Bangladeshi cell of the terrorist group; Anwar Hossain, already involved in an attack in the past years; Rabiul Islam, an IT specialist; Nazrul Alam, in charge of finances. Kabir is reported to have confessed to being the leader of the group.
During the raid, police seized "a
massive load" of extremist leaflets; three laptops, now being studied by investigators; two desktop computers; eight
mobile phones; a passport and a form to apply for
a visa in Pakistan. Kabir said that his team "was
working" to gather money and
weapons in view
of a massive attack "against symbolic personalities and
places in Bangladesh." Their purpose "is to establish an Islamic State in the country".
The coordinator of the terrorist group,
say the investigators, "has been in Pakistan a long time.
Here he received military
training and operated under the mantle of al Qaeda
along with three Bangladeshis killed in a gunfight with
police in Karachi on 9 January 2015". The country's authorities
announced that they had ordered put
police and security on "high alert", while the
tension and fear is mounting. According
to members of national intelligence the possibility of an attack "is very concrete, given that the Islamic State is seeking to broaden its range of transnational influence".
An AsiaNews source, anonymous for security reasons, confirms this climate: "All movement has to
be limited to the minimum necessary
and people are being advised against
going to unknown destinations". Abul Hossain, a young Muslim, says: "People are scared, and want the government to intervene to avoid any form of armed militancy in
Bangladesh. Religion must be used
for love, not for bloody violence like the Islamic State ".
In Bangladesh, Islam is the state religion, practiced by more than 89.5% of the
population. Catholics are only
0.1%. The Constitution does not
recognize Shari'a (Islamic law) and
guarantees full religious freedom,
but conversions to a different religion are often opposed.