Bandarban AL leader among militants arrested?

A leader of Bandarban's Naikhyanchharhi Upazila unit of Awami League is said to be among the five people including a Pakistani citizen held as suspected militants in Chittagong on Sunday. Police arrested Md Shafiullah, 38, from Hotel Lord’s In the port city’s Nasirabad area on Sunday afternoon. The four others are Pakistani Mohammad Alam, 44, Salamat Ullah, 40, Mohammad Amin, 53, and Abdul Majid, 31. Shafiullah had contested the last Upazila Parishad election with the ruling party’s support. Police suspect the five were connected with Rohingya Solidarity Organisation (RSO) which allegedly is involved with Rohingya militants. However, one of Shafiullah’s party leaders claimed the man had gone to that hotel to discuss about selling land. But detectives said they were interrogating all the arrestees considering their possible ties to the Rohingya militants and their activities in Cox’s Bazar and Naikhyanchharhi. Allegations have it that some Rohingya refugees are involved in criminal activities abroad by obtaining Bangladeshi passports. Indian intelligence officials recently arrested RSO member Khalid Mohammad alias Khalid from Hyderabad over the Oct 2 Burdwan blast in India’s West Bengal state. According to them, Khalid had confessed to have received militant training from Pakistan’s Tehrik-e-Insaf on behalf of Myanmar outfit Tehrek-e-Azadi Arakan, according to bdnews24.com.