2 more Hefazat leaders held

Police on Wednesday arrested Hefazat-e-Islam joint secretary general of Dhaka metropolitan (zone 10) Mufti Faisal Mahmud Habibi from the capital’s Demra area and the organisation's dissolved central committee leader Maulana Abdul Qaium from Netrokona.

A team of Mirpur DB police arrested Faisal at around 4 pm while Abdul was arrested from a madrasa in Netrokona’s Kendua upazila.

Faisal worked as the Khatib of Medina Chattar Central Jame Mosque in Demra and lived on Badsha Mia Road of the area.

On the other hand, Abdul Qaium was the director general of the Malni Jamia Hussainiya Madrasa in Netrokona.

OC Khandaker Saker Ahmed said Maulana Abdul Qaium was the accused in the case filed in connection with the 2013 Hefazat violence in Narayanganj's Sonargaon.

A court arrest warrant was pending against him in that case for a long time, he added.

Many Hefazat leaders have been arrested in the country recently following the vandalism and arson attack carried out by its activists across the country protesting against the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi marking the celebration of golden jubilee of the country’s independence last month.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal on Wednesday said, "As per our investigation, Hefazat-e-Islam carried out violence with an aim to repeat the incident of Shapla Chattar it unleashed in 2013."