23 held in Farmgate over suspected militant links
The identities and backgrounds of the arrested are being verified.
Police detained 23 people from a mosque in Dhaka's Farmgate area today (18 September) over suspected links to militancy, after they were found holding what authorities described as a secret meeting.
The group was detained at around 4:15pm based on intelligence information, said Mohammad Ibne Mizan, deputy commissioner of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police's Tejgaon Division.
"They were detained based on intelligence information. Their identities and backgrounds are being verified," he said.
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The detainees were being kept at Tejgaon Police Station while police continued checking their identities and backgrounds.
A senior DMP official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said preliminary information suggested that the detainees were active members of the banned militant organisation, Iftihadul Islam.
Police are continuing to verify their alleged organisational affiliations and determine the circumstances surrounding the gathering.
The chief of the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit was also expected to visit the police station in connection with the incident.
