Suspected IS recruiter arrested in Bangladesh

DHAKA: A 22-year-old man has been arrested in Bangladesh on charges of trying to recruit members for the dreaded Islamic State (IS) movement, a day after two others were detained for planning to wage jihad to establish Islamic rule in the Muslim-majority country.

Police identified the arrested man as Hifzur Rahman, a second-year college student.

Deputy commissioner Masudur Rahman said they nabbed him from Purana Paltan area in the capital last night.

“He opened Facebook page ‘ISIS Bangladesh’ from his account and was working as a recruiter for so-called Jihadis for IS as found out by the detectives,” bdnews24 quoted police as saying.

“But there is no concrete proof of Hifzur’s affiliation with IS,” police said.

Police claimed the detained person was an active member of banned outfit Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen (JMB).

“Hifzur did not succeed in contacting any Middle Eastern countries,” they said.

Earlier, on Wednesday, police detained two youths from Dhaka’s Segunbagicha and Ramna, allegedly for planning to join the IS, the militant group that has occupied parts of Iraq and Syria where they have declared a Caliphate.

This organisation is believed to have 15,000 foreign ‘fighters’.

The US has launched air strikes against the IS. The UN Security Council has urged member states to pass a bill to prevent IS recruitment in various countries.