Sister follows suit

Three days after her sister was charged by Australian Federal Police for stabbing a man in the neck in Melbourne, Asmaul Husna was arrested for a similar attack on Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) on Monday. 

Asmaul Husna alias Shumona, 22, allegedly attacked a member of police with a knife when the law enforcers went to meet her at her Kazipara house in the capital to inquire about her sister, Australian expatriate Momena Shoma, 24, said Masudur Rahman, deputy commissioner (Media) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police. However, the police member survived the attack unscathed.

Momena is currently detained by Australian Federal Police over allegations of stabbing a man in Melbourne which police described as an “IS-inspired attack”, reports AFP. Meanwhile, during a police interrogation, Asmaul admitted to her involvement with “Neo-JMB”, an offshoot of the banned militant outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), police claimed.

The law enforcers later conducted a search in the house and confiscated a laptop, a knife and two mobile phones.

“We suspect that Asmaul was motivated into militancy by her elder sister Momena,” Additional Deputy Commissioner of Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime Saiful Islam told The Daily Star.

Police filed a case with Kafrul Police Station in this regard. Yesterday, after being produced before a court, Asmaul was placed on a five-day remand.

In another incident, Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) arrested two “JMB militants”, including a “regional leader” from Jhenidah, during a raid at the capital's Tejgaon Industrial area on Monday.

The arrestees are Nuruzzaman Labu, 39, from Jhenidah and Nazmul Islam Shaon, 26, from Faridpur.  Rab recovered two knives, some US currency and religiously inciting books from their possession.

Before becoming a militant in 2015, Nuruzzaman used to work as a truck driver's helper. He was introduced to militancy by one Saif alias Rubel who inspired him to kill non-Muslims, said a Rab press release.

From then on, impersonating an auto-rickshaw driver, he used to stalk those converted to other faiths from Islam.

During interrogation, he admitted to stalking a man who recently converted to Christianity, with an intention to stab him to death, Rab claimed. 

The other arrestee, Nazmul, a marine engineer, also became involved in militancy in 2015. From primary quizzing it was apparent that his inspiration to militancy was triggered by jihadist books. 

Nazmul later met a person named Abu Abdullah on Facebook and Abu introduced him to JMB, said Rab.

The arrestees recently established an online community of 40 to 50 militants, Rab officials added.