11 arrested in Bangladesh for terror financing

Dhaka: Eleven people have been arrested for their suspected links in terror financing during separate raids in the Bangladeshi capital, police said on Saturday.

The anti-crime and anti-terrorism Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) made the arrests from different parts of the capital yesterday.

The arrestees were identified as Tony Nath, Md Faysal alias Tuhin, Amzad Hossain, Moin Khan, Md Nahid, Md Jahed Ullah, Md Helal Uddin, Helal Uddin, Al Amin, Al Mamun and Al Amin, the Daily Star reported.

The elite force in separate drives arrested them from different parts as they were involved in terror financing, the report said, quoting a message from RAB office.

Bangladesh has been witnessing a spate of attacks on secular activists, foreigners and religious minorities since 2013. The country launched a massive crackdown on militants, specially after the July 1 terror attack on a Dhaka cafe that killed 22 people, including 17 foreigners.

ISIS has claimed several attacks in Bangladesh, but the government rejects the presence of foreign terrorist groups in the moderate Muslim-majority country, blaming home-grown groups such as the Islamic-State inclined Neo-Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (Neo-JMB) for terrorist attacks.