Sunny trained Shibir men in Kushtia, Jhenidah

Ataur Rahman Sunny in Rab custody after arrest in Dhaka. PHOTO: STAR

Several dense were also built in areas near the Islamic University and in the two districts where Sunny trained Shibir and JMB men in use of arms.

These were revealed by JMB activist Bulbul Ahmed alias Abujar during interrogation. Bulbul was in charge of August 17 bomb blasts in Jhenidah.

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Local people demolished one of the JMB dense at Nagpara village in Shailkupa upazila in Jhenidah in December 2003, Bulbul told interrogators, police said.

Bulbul was arrested on November 23 from Kestopur village in Shailkupa upazila.

While a student at Islamic University in 1999-2000 session, Sunny organised JMB in several areas including Nagpara, Bakri, Brahimpur, Dahkhola, Bestopur, Lakhandia, Darda, Kashimpur, Bhatoi, Garaganj, Kabirpur and Sheikhpara in Sailkupa upazila in Jhenidah and Bishnudia, Santidanga, Madandanga, jhoudia, Harinarayanpur, Kalishankarpur and Mollateghoria in Kushtia Sadar upazila, according to police and local people.

Sunny recruited Bulbul from Shailkupa and later made him a 'commander', they said.

Local people said Bulbul, 42, son of Ibrahim Ali of Bakshipur village in Shailkupa, was a tailor at Garaganj Bazar. But he had no interest in tailoring. He spent most of his time to organise JMB in the areas.

Some people in the area told this correspondent that they suspected Bulbul from the very beginning. A madrassa student, Bulbul also took part in the Afghan War, some of them claimed.

Sources said Bulbul and his accomplices built a den at Nagpara village in 2001. Sunny regularly went there and trained at least 200 JMB activists, the local people claimed.

One day, the JMB men had a dispute with local people over a hundred-year-old shrine of a Muslim saint there. As the JMB declared to demolish the shrine, the people demolished their den at Nagpara village and drove them out, local people said. Bulbul then took shelter in Kabirpur and stayed there till his arrest.

According to local people, Harkatul Jihad (HuJi) chief Mufti Hannan often come to Nagpara before his arrest. They said they confirmed it when Hannan's photo was published in newspapers and shown on TV screens after his arrest.

Police have so far arrested eight JMB activists from Jhenidah and collected names of at least 30 others. Besides JMB and HuJi, there are some activists of Allahr Dal, a banned organisation of zealots, police officials said.