ABT man held in India

International Desk: The Uttar Pradesh Anti Terrorism-Squad (ATS) arrested a terror suspect, Abdullah-Al-Mamon, from Kutesara village in Muzaffarnagar district on early Sunday morning.

According to a statement issued by ATS, "Abdullah is originally a resident of Momin Shahi district of Bangladesh and was linked to banned terror organisation - 'Ansarullah Bangla Team' (ABT). He was staying in this region since 2011 and frequently travelled to Saharanpur and Deoband in particular. During questioning, he revealed that his main task was to settle the members of ABT in India by providing them with fake Aadhaar IDs and other documents."

Currently, police of three districts - Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar and Shamli -- are conducting massive search operations under DIG, Saharanpur Range, to nab more sleeping modules active in the region and who are in touch with Abdullah.

Cops also seized fake stamps of village pradhans, district election officer and other administrative authorites to create fake IDs from the arrested suspect.

As per the information provided by TRAC (Terrorism, Research & Analysis Consortium), ABT is an al Qaida-inspired Islamic extremist group in Bangladesh. Its objectives include the radicalization of youth in Bangladesh, inciting active participation in a local jihad and seeking control of areas in Bangladesh.

According to website of TRAC, the group uses cyberspace extensively in propagating jihadist ideology and training manuals to guide terror attacks.

ABT also uses mosques in propagating its ideological objectives. On August 12, 2013, Bangladeshi authorities arrested the leader of the ABT, Mufti Jasimuddin Rahmani, with 30 members from Barguna (south western district in Bangladesh) for inciting jihad at mosques. ABT is a banned organisation.

Source: Times of India

risingbd/Dhaka/Aug 6, 2017/Amirul