Bangladesh
Hefazat Arrests Hefazat leader Harun used to lead the extremists
Dhaka, April 30: The court sent Mufti Harun Izhar, the central research secretary of the defunct committee of Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh, to jail. Chittagong Senior Judicial Magistrate Begum Anjuman Ara's Virtual Court passed the order on Thursday night (April 29).
Chittagong District Court Police Inspector Humayun Kabir said, "Hathazari police arrested Harun Izhar in three cases and sent him to court. After the hearing, the court ordered him to be sent to jail."
Sheikh Mufti Harun Izhar used to lead the extremists of Hefazat-e-Islam who claimed to be apolitical. Everyone in the organization knew him as the leader of the Manhajis.
Police had earlier arrested Harun Izhar, who had called for jihad in a statement. He was trying to establish a so-called caliphate by spreading extremist ideology as before. He was trying to take Hefazat towards extremism. Leaders and activists of the banned militant group Harkatul Jihad and the JMB have been in touch with him, law enforcement officials said.
On Thursday (April 29) morning, Elite Force RAB arrested Harun Izhar along with an associate from Jamiatul Uloom Al Islamia Madrasa in Chittagong's Lalkhan Bazar.
Later that afternoon, he was handed over to Chittagong's Hathazari police. Hathazari police have arrested Harun Izhar in three cases and applied for a 21-day remand. The court fixed the next date for remand hearing and directed to send him to jail.
Lieutenant Colonel Muhammad Khairul Islam, director of the intelligence branch of the Elite Force RAB, said, "Harun Izhar was the supporter of the recent anti-Modi movement in Hifazat Hathazari. He has already been charged with spreading extremism and involvement in militant activities. Preliminary interrogation after his arrest revealed disturbing information to him. This information is being verified and selected."
RAB officials say that in 2009, inter-state militants set up a bell around the Jamiatul Uloom Al-Islamia madrassa at the foot of a hill in Lalkhan Bazar, run by Harun Izhar. Towards the end of that year, they plotted to attack the US Embassy in Dhaka and the Indian High Commissioner's Office.
A law enforcement official said Harun Izhar was tasked with re-establishing Harkatul Jihad and the Afghan returnees in Hefazat-e-Islam. He will be interrogated in the recent violence as well as further details will be revealed.
