Ramna Batamul blast: convict Mufti Shafiqur hid in the guise of a teacher

Mufti Shafiqur Rahman, who was condemned to death over the bomb attack on Chhayanaut’s Bangla New Year programme at Ramna Batamul in Dhaka at 2001, took up jobs at various madrasas and mosques under a pseudonym in a bid to evade arrest, according to the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB).

The militant changed his name to Abdul Karim and taught at different madrasas in Narsingdi, according to RAB spokesperson Commander Khandaker Al Moin.

He has been serving as an Imam of a mosque with a fake name "Abdul Karim". Even, he had collected his national ID card under his new name, to dodge the eyes of law enforcers, said Khandaker Al Moin, Rab's Legal and Media wing director today.

The elite police unit apprehended Shafiqur from Kishoreganj’s Bhairab on Pahela Boishakh, the first day of the Bangla calendar.

“After the attack on Ramna Batamul, he remained covertly involved with the militant group Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (HuJI) until 2008. He started to work in a madrasa in Narsingdi in 2008,” the RAB spokesperson said.

The 61-year-old Shafiqur was also sentenced to life in prison over the grenade attack on an Awami League rally on Aug 21, 2004.

Moin said the convict stopped communicating with his family members and relatives after going into hiding in 2008 in Narsingdi. Before that, he had been staying in different places.