Although Md Enamul Haque is an RMG businessman, he hid his real identity while depositing Tk16 lakh last year into a bank account of Moniruzzaman Masud alias Don, leader of militant outfit Shaheed Hamza Brigade.
Enamul wired the deposit on August 16, 2014 from Islami Bank’s Uttara branch although his account was with Mohakhali branch.
In the deposit receipt, the director of Golden Touch Apparels in Dhaka’s Turag area identified himself as owner of Ganex Mushroom Limited, which was operational in 2001-03. The money was deposited in the Islami Bank account of Sanjida Enterprise owned by Don.
Arrested on Saturday night in Dhaka, Enamul claimed that he had only returned the amount he had taken in advance from three buyers.
“But Enamul could not give details about those three persons,” RAB 7 Commanding Officer Lt Col Mifta Uddin Ahmed told reporters at a press briefing in the port city yesterday.
“So far, we have found the source of Tk1.24 crore out of Tk1.38 crore deposited in Don’s account for the militant group,” Mifta said.
RAB claims that Enamul is a supporter of Jamaat-e-Islami.
Partnering with a friend, Enamul started Golden Touch Apparels in Taltola area of Turag in 2013 where he has 56 workers. He used to export jeans to Saudi Arabia, Spain and some other countries.
Apart from Enamul, BNP’s former whip Syed Wahidul Alam’s daughter and Supreme Court lawyer barrister Shakila Farzana deposited Tk52 lakh for the outfit while her associates Md Hasanuzzaman Liton deposited Tk31 lakh and Mahfuz Chowdhury Bapon Tk25 lakh in Don’s account. RAB arrested them in Dhaka on August 18.
The three too claimed during interrogation and in their confessional statements that they had no idea about Don or Hamza Brigade and that they only returned money taken in advance for running cases on behalf of the radical Islamist group Hefazat-e-Islam.
RAB 7 also found that a Dubai citizen named Allama Libdi financed the group during his visits to Bangladesh. Moreover, Hamza Brigade received money from abroad through Hundi.
Senior Judicial Magistrate Sazzad Hossain at Banshkhali upazila in Chittagong yesterday granted five days for questioning Enamul in RAB custody in a case lodged with Banshkhali police under the Anti-Terrorism Act. The case was filed after RAB had busted the group’s military camp on February 21, prosecutor Bikash Ranjan Dhar said.
During the hearing, the court asked Enamul about the matter as he had no counsel. But it was not satisfied with his answers and granted the prosecution’s remand plea.
So far, RAB has arrested 29 leaders and supporters, and four alleged financiers of Hamza Brigade, which was formed by former leaders of Islami Chhatra Shibir, Hefazat and other militant groups in late 2013 with a view to launching armed revolution to establish an Islamic state comprising parts of Chittagong, India and Myanmar.
The kingpin of the outfit is still on the run. RAB officers suspect that he is staying in Malaysia.
Before arresting the suspected financiers, the elite force has busted huge cache of arms and explosives and arrested 29 members in eight drives between February and June.
RAB has also found that all the deposits made to Don’s account took place in August and September last year. “The number of transactions in his accounts in the two months was more than any other times,” said Lt Col Mifta.
He said that they were investigating the matter intensively. “Nobody will be spared. We will take action against everyone involved with the militant group, be it political leaders, government officials or any other service holders,” the RAB official added.
Source: Dhaka Tribune
