Three men of banned militant outfit held in Chittagong

Three members of the banned militant outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) were arrested in separate drives in Chittagong, Bangladesh, on Friday.

The detainees have been identified as Farhad Hossain Ripan, 27, an ex-student of Chittagong University (CU), Md Emran, 25, a former student of Chittagong Polytechnic Institute (CPI) and Ahmed Roni, 21, a student of Shyamoli Ideal Polytechnic Institute in the Port city, reports the Daily star.

The police conducted a drive at a house in Double Mooring area of the port city around 12:30 a.m. local time and arrested Farhad.

Another team conducted a drive at a house in Shikalbaha village in Patiya upazila of Chittagong and arrested Emran around 1:00 a.m. local time.

Rony was arrested from his house in Dhalghat village of Patiya upazila around 2:00 a.m. local times by a separate team.

The law enforcers during the drive also recovered two laptops, three mobile phones and "huge number of jihadi books" from their possession.

The arrestees during primary investigation admitted that they were the members of ABT and had attended several meetings with ABT leaders in Chittagong.

Police said that ABT men were recruited by Musayeb Ibn Omayer, a converted Muslim, who is now in jail following his arrest by Sitakunda police, several months ago,

He along with three other ABT men were arrested from Sitakunda's Barabkunda area while they were planning to carry out attacks on law enforcers and industrial establishments in Chittagong on July 10.