5 Bangladeshis repatriated from Singapore arrested back home: Report

The five Bangladeshi men who were repatriated from Singapore have been arrested in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Tuesday (May 3), according to a report by local newspaper The Daily Star.

The five were investigated under the Internal Security Act in Singapore, but were not found to be involved with the Islamic State in Bangladesh (ISB). They however had "possessed and/or proliferated jihadi-related materials or supported the use of armed violence in pursuit of a religious cause", said the Ministry of Home Affairs on Tuesday.

Eight other Bangladeshis, including the founder of ISB, Rahman Mizanur, remain in detention under the ISA. 

The Daily Star reported the five men as: Mizanur Rahman alias Ghalib Hasan, 38; Md Rana Mia Pilot, 29; Md Alamgir Hossain, 31; Md Tanjimul Islam, 24; and Masud Rana alias Sontu Khan, 31, 

It added that some of the five men were found in possession of Jasim Uddin Rahmani's books that are known for preaching militancy. According to investigators, Rahmani is the spiritual leader of banned militant outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team. 

The report also cited Additional Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Monirul Islam, who is the chief of Counterterrorism and Transnational Crime Unit of the DMP, as saying that the five were deported on Apr 29 and were under surveillance. They were arrested on Tuesday, and after charges are filed, they would be produced before a court with a 10-day remand prayer for each of them.

The report added that the five went to Singapore between 2007 and 2011 as skilled and unskilled labourers.  

As for the eight Bangladeshis still detained in Singapore, the Additional DMP Commissioner said that Singapore authorities were interrogating them, and added that the laws of the two countries are different. 

"If what is considered radicalism in Singapore is to be considered the same in Bangladesh, half the population would have to be in jail," he said in the report.