The Criminal Investigation Department of Bangladesh Police arrested Hefazat-e-Islam leader Junaid Al Quasemi, one of the masterminds of the militant outfit, from Brahmanbaria on Saturday morning.
Junaid was behind the violence unleashed in the district by the radical outfit during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Bangladesh in March this year, Jisanul Haque, Senior Assistant Superintendent (media wing) of CID, told IANS.
Junaid is the son of Allama Nur Hossain Quasemi, who was the secretary general of the recently dissolved committee of Hefazat.
Haque said the police are also probing if there is any case of sabotage against Junaid, as has been reported recently.
Earlier on Friday night, the police had arrested six persons, including militant leader from Brahmanbaria, Niazul Karim, in connection with the three-day mayhem unleashed in the district in March.
The police have so far arrested 398 persons in connection with the case.
Raich Uddin, Additional Superintendent of Police (crime and administration), said that six persons were arrested in a special operation from different places on Friday. Among them, Niazul Karim had led a mob on March 26 to Radhika Bazar in Sadar Upazila which set fire to tree trunks and tyres on the streets.
Niazul Karim is the Women and Family Welfare Secretary of the Brahmanbaria District Islamic Movement and the Madrasa Secretary of the Central Committee of the National Teachers Forum.
He had led the attacks on the Central library, besides orchestrating arson in Brahmanbaria between March 26 and March 28.
Hefazat activists and supporters had wreaked havoc across the district in March, when large scale vandalism was witnessed at various government and private establishments in the district.
So far, 56 cases have been registered in connection with these incidents, in which more than 40,000 people have been accused.
During the violence on March 26-28, teachers and students of different madrasas vandalised and torched different government and non-government establishments and houses in the district.
