B'desh Police detains 'spiritual leader' linked to New JMB

The Bangladesh Police detained Maulana Abul Kashem, a spiritual leader of militant outfit New Jama'atul Mujaheedin Bangladesh (JMB), in Dhaka last night.

Dhaka tribune quoted Dhaka Metropolitan Police's Deputy Commissioner (media) Masudur Rahman as saying that a faction of the original Jama'atul Mujaheedin Bangladesh militant group was also headed by Kashem.

Kashem, detained by a team of Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), was working at the Okharabari Madrasa of Dinajpur as a religious preacher.

Several leaders of New JMB including its military and operations chief Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury have been killed or arrested after the deadly attack at the Holey Artisan Bakery on July 1 last year which claimed 20 lives including 18 foreigners.

Law enforcement agencies are now searching for few more leaders of the New JMB who were involved in

other terror attacks since September 2015 in the country.

Two militants of the New JMB (Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen) group including Gulshan terror attack operational commander Marjan were killed in an alleged gunfight with the counter- terrorism unit in Dhaka's Mohammadpur area on January 6 this year.