Wanted Bangladeshi man arrested in Malaysia
- Published at 08:28 PM August 26, 2016
Akash has long been campaigning against the ongoing war crimes trials
Peyar Ahmed Akash, a Bangladeshi expatriate in Malaysia involved with Jamaat-Shibir and facing Interpol red alert, is under interrogation in the South-East Asian country for his suspected link to terrorism.
He
was arrested by detectives at his house in Puchong, Malaysia on August
19, and has remained in police custody since. Akash was earlier
arrested on December 15, 2014 by Malaysian police for his suspected involvement in terrorist activities.
He came into light in 2005, after RAB had arrested him for selling off four AK47 rifles – stolen from the 10-truck arms seized in 2004 – to Delwar alias Azrail
Delwar, a listed terrorist linked to Shibir. But he managed to come out
of jail on bail by the grace of his brother-in-law Abu Yusuf – the
nayeb-e-ameer of Feni district unit Jamaat.
The
Malaysian government launched crackdown on suspected militants since
last year after two Malaysian radical preachers in an IS video called
for carrying out attacks in the country. It also enacted a strict
anti-terrorism law to help curb the growing number of Malaysian citizens
joining IS.
Since
then, the government has arrested several hundred people for their link
to IS and al-Qaeda. The arrestees include armed forces members, police
officials, imams and women.
On
June 21 this year, IS released a video, featuring its Malaysia-origin
operative Muhamad Wanndy Mohamad Jedi, urging supporters to kill
non-Muslims in Malaysia.
In
the recent months, several dozen Bangladeshis were arrested in
Singapore for recruiting members to join Islamic State in Syria and wage
armed attacks in Bangladesh. Some of them have been sentenced to different jail terms.
Hailing
from Noyonpur village under Dagonbhuiyan upazila, Akash joined
Jamaat-e-Islami’s radical student wing Shibir while studying in Shaheen
Academy School of Feni town, run by Jamaat. He passed SSC in 1993 and
eventually got engaged in arms trading.
RAB arrested him along with two of his associates in Feni on September 18, 2005 based on information given by Delwar, who was killed in an alleged gunfight with RAB at Fatikchhari of Chittagong on May 7, 2005.
Peyar Ahmed Akash (red shirt) and three of his associates after their arrest in 2005
During interrogation, Akash told the police that he had been aware of the 2004 arms smuggling and that he had sold the arms to different terrorist outfits with the help of sergeants Alauddin and Helal Uddin.
Jailed for seven years in the case, he secured bail after some time and resumed arms trading, according to sources in Feni police.
Akash went to Malaysia after the 1/11 changeover and got engaged in manpower and hotel businesses, and soon became an influential leader of the Feni community in Kuala Lumpur.
He is also accused of campaigning against the war crimes trials in the Bangladeshi community in Malaysia for long. Being informed, Bangladesh government last year requested Interpol for his arrest, and later Interpol issued the red alert.
Md Fazlul Amin Javed, a manpower agent partner of Akash, told the Dhaka Tribune that Akash had issued him death threats in 2014 over business issues. Later the Malaysian police arrested him in the case.
“Akash
has long been conspiring to damage Bangladesh’s manpower market in
Malaysia by circulating false and fabricated information. Surprisingly,
the Bangladesh High Commission officials in Malaysia, who were informed about the Interpol alert, have always remained silent,” he alleged.
Sources
said Akash campaigns from his restaurant named Rasana Bilash in Kuala
Lumpur. He often organises discussions at the restaurant with Jamaat
leaders and supporters to condemn the ongoing war crimes trails.
He even attended a meeting of pro-Jamaat firm Mission Group as the chief guest in Kuala Lumpur on April 19 last year.
Akash
identified himself as a community leader when Jasad MP Shirin Akhter of
Feni 1 constituency went to Kuala Lumpur to attend a conference in
July. He often attends the high commission’s programmes as a community leader, apparently to hide his misdeeds.
His
Bangladeshi associates in Malaysia include Zahirul Islam Hiron,
Mohammad Mohiuddin, Saleh Ahmed Sagar, Shahnoor, Mominul Huq, Ziauddin
Mahmud and Mohammad Akhter Hossain, sources say.
When contacted, Jamaat leader Yusuf said that he had no contact with Akash for long, and that he was unaware of his arrest.
Superintendent
of Police Rezaul Huq said that he had not been instructed by the
government highups to take any steps regarding Akash.
Rafiqul Islam is our Feni correspondent
