Martial Arts Centre under scanner: Bangladesh Police book 16 in suspected extremist outfit case

The First Information Report (FIR) alleges that after six suspected members were arrested, their associates issued threats and demanded their release, reported The Daily Star.

According to the report, Inspector AB Siddiq of Jatrabari Police Station filed the case under the Anti-Terrorism Act.

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The case was registered days after the chief instructor of the Fatah Combat System martial arts training centre, Shah Amanat Sabir, and five others were arrested from Jatrabari on July 5.

A Dhaka court on July 8 placed Sabir and his associate Hossain Tanim on a fresh three-day remand, while sending the remaining four accused to jail. The court noted that police had not initially shown them arrested under the Anti-Terrorism Act and granted remand only to facilitate a fair investigation, The Daily Star reported.

The 16 accused named in the FIR are Sabir, Tanim, Md Junaid, Ataullah Shah, Md Abidur Rahman, Md Bayozit, Tahsin Islam alias Sultan Musanna, Abu Osama Faisal, Walid Abdullah alias Abul Bashar, Masud, Md Ibrahim, Mahfuzur Rahman, Abu Sufian, Hedayat, Ramzan and Biplob.

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The FIR alleges that the arrested suspects revealed information about an organisation called “Sabir Bhaiyer Jamaat” and identified Sabir as its leader.

Police claimed that Sabir used a Facebook page named “Fatah Combat System” as a front to recruit followers and organise the group while using martial arts training as a cover.

Investigators alleged that members of the group communicated through social media platforms including Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp and Telegram, used aliases, and attempted to recruit and train members while spreading extremist ideology.

Police had earlier alleged that Sabir had approached leaders of banned outfits including Ansar Al Islam and Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami Bangladesh before establishing his own group.

The FIR further stated that detectives recovered several items, including a mobile phone, fuses, electronic circuits, lithium-ion batteries, metal balls, two machetes, an axe, a knife and other tools from Tahsin's possession during his arrest on July 9.

The complaint also referred to a 2-minute-23-second video allegedly recovered from Sabir’s phone, which showed an explosion on a rural road at night, militant-style slogans and Sabir allegedly issuing threats while holding a sharp weapon.

Police said Sabir admitted that he appeared in the video, which was allegedly created to spread panic.

The FIR also mentioned Ataullah Shah, a member of the National Citizen Party (NCP), a political organisation formed after the 2024 anti-Sheikh Hasina protests in Bangladesh during the tenure of the interim government.