Escape of militants:It was all part of a big plan

Ansar Al Islam's military wing members snatched their fellows from police custody so that they could execute a plan to launch a major attack, Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime officials told The Daily Star yesterday.

Their initial plan was to snatch at least four members as the four are experts in military training and firearms, and attacks with sharp weapons.

Although the outfit tried to snatch four militants this time, its broader plan involved snatching seven of eight condemned militants.

The four were supposed to join newly trained members of the outfit to execute a major attack, investigators claimed.

The CTTC officials probing Sunday's snatching of two convicts claimed to have found these out after grilling two militants -- Abdus Sabur and Arafat Rahman -- who failed to escape police custody that day.

The militants had planned to snatch these four in February. "As part of the plan, they rented several houses early this year," said a high official of CTTC unit, requesting anonymity.

"The snatched militants were supposed to take cover in the houses and leave the capital for safer places later," the official said.

Investigators said the four were told about the plan beforehand over mobile phone in jail.

The condemned convicts, who were in high security prison, was recently move to a regular cell, claimed a CTTC official.

"We are now looking into how these militants were moved to regular cells and how they got access to phones," the official said.

Md Asaduzzaman, chief of the CTTC, yesterday said they identified the mastermind of Sunday's attack and the cohorts. "We are now conducting drives to arrest them," he said.

WHY THE FOUR

CTTC officials said that the outfit chose these four as they were experts in targeted killings. The two that escaped were Abu Siddiq Sohel and Moinul Hasan Shamim and they have multiple aliases, they said.

Shamim was among six militants for whom police declared bounties in 2016. Sohel had taken part in planning the assassination of blogger and writer Avijit Roy, Foysal Arefin Dipan, and Niladri Niloy, said CTTC officials.

Sohel is wanted in six other cases filed under the anti-terrorism act.

The CTTC arrested Sohel in 2018 and the DB arrested Shamim in 2017.

Sabur was claimed to be a trainer of militants and Arafat an expert in firearms and attacks with sharp weapons.

All four were essential for the outfit to execute a major attack, claimed a CTTC official.

AYMAN LED THE WAY

Even though sacked Major Sayed Ziaul Haque alias Major Zia was the mastermind of the convict-snatching operation, the outfit's military wing chief Ayman alias Mashiur Rahman led a 12-member team on the ground on Sunday, said CTTC investigators.

At least eight militants directly took part while four others were in the back-up team.

Ayman of Shahjadpur in Sirajganj was an assistant director of Public Service Commission. He quit in March 2020 and has never been arrested.

Sources said the militants had bought motorbikes using fake documents and had several master-keys to unlock handcuffs and chain cutters.

ANOTHER COMMITTEE

The home ministry yesterday formed a four-member committee to probe the Sunday's incident.

The additional secretary (prisons) of the Security Service Division has been made convener of the committee, which is to submit its report within seven working days.

An officer from the Police Headquarters not lower than the rank of deputy inspector general; additional inspector general of prisons and an additional district magistrate were supposed to be in the probe body.

Earlier, Police Headquarters and Dhaka Metropolitan Police formed two  committees to investigate the incident. The DMP's committee yesterday sought four more days to complete its probe.