Lawmen today arrested a pilot of the country’s national flag carrier Biman Bangladesh Airlines on charges of militant activities and plotting sabotage with aircraft.
The arrestee was identified as Sabbir, a first officer of Biman, Rapid Action Battalion said in a short message forwarded to the media.
On inquiry, an official of Biman’s public relations department told The Daily Star that Captain Sabbir earlier refused to fly after the anti-militancy raid at a building in Mirpur’s Mazar Road in September this year.
Sabbir formally appealed to the director of flight operations not to allow him to fly considering his “mental state” as “his father was arrested in the raid.”
His appeal was approved by the authorities and he was off duty since then.
Sabbir’s father, Habibullah Bahar Azad, owner of the building, was arrested on September 7 during an 88-hour long operation that saw seven people, including militant suspect Abdullah, dead.
According to the Rab message, Sabbir is described as a member of the Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and an associate of deceased militant Abdullah.
He was arrested along with three others from Dhaka.
Further details could not be obtained immediately. The law enforcers will be briefing the media later in the day on the arrest of the four militants.
Source: Daily Star
