Keraniganj madrasah head made bombs overnight before explosion: Police

Police yesterday (28 December) told a Dhaka court that Sheikh Al Amin, head of a madrasah in Keraniganj, stayed awake all night making improvised explosive devices before the explosion that destroyed the institution on Friday (26 December).

At a remand hearing, the investigating officer said Al Amin had prepared the bombs at the Ummul Quran International Madrasah in Hasnabad, South Keraniganj, on the night before the blast.

He remains at large, while six other accused have been arrested in connection with the case.

Police sought remand for the six suspects, and the court granted the plea. In court, the investigating officer referred to the suspects as "militants".

The case was filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act after the explosion, accusing the suspects of creating panic, spreading religious extremism, and conspiring to cause damage to life and property.

Police said Al Amin had previously been arrested in a militancy-related case.

An official from police headquarters said he was named in a case filed with Fatullah Police Station on 29 July 2017 and was arrested at that time on suspicion of involvement with a militant group known as Neo-JMB. He later served time in prison.

Reportedly, Al Amin had recently filed a complaint with the Inquiry Commission on Enforced Disappearances against some police officers, but did not mention his past criminal cases in that complaint.

A massive explosion rocked the madrasah after 10am on Friday, causing parts of the building to collapse.

After the blast, Al Amin was seen heading to a hospital with his wife and three children, who were injured. He later fled, leaving them there, police said.

During searches at the site and subsequent operations, police said they recovered two improvised explosive devices, five electric bomb-like devices and a large quantity of bomb-making materials.

The seized items include about 394 litres of liquid chemicals, 27kg of powder-like substances, iron balls and wired nails, two shotgun cartridges, bombs, electronic devices, a money-counting machine, handcuffs, computers, motorcycles and several books described by police as religious or "jihadi".

On Saturday (27 December), police arrested three women — Al Amin's wife Asiya Begum, 28; her sister-in-law Yasmin Akter, 30; and Asmani Khatun alias Asma, 34.

Based on information obtained from them, police later arrested three more people from Dhaka and Bagerhat: Shahin alias Abu Bakr alias Musa alias Diba Sultan, 32; Aminur alias Darzi Amin, 50; and Shafiar Rahman Fakir, 36.

Dhaka District Superintendent of Police Mizanur Rahman said the three men used to travel regularly to the madrasah in Keraniganj.

"Some explosives were recovered from Shahin, and some important information was found in the mobile phones of Aminur and Shafiar," he said.

However, he declined to comment on whether the arrested suspects had links to any militant organisation.

The superintendent also avoided directly answering whether Al Amin was a militant, but confirmed that he had been arrested twice in the past and had served jail terms.

Police said six of the seven people named in the case are now in custody, while efforts are continuing to arrest the main suspect, Sheikh Al Amin.