Al Qaeda man held in Bangladesh while coordinating campaign in favor of photographer Shahidul Alam

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An active member of banned militancy outfit Hizbut Tahrir, who also has connections with Al Qaeda has been arrested in early hours of December 15, 2018 while coordinating campaign in favour of photographer Shahidul Alam.

According to information, members of the law enforcing agencies arrested Mehedi Masnad Saimum from Dhaka’s Baridhara DOHS area as he was giving direction to the members of Hizbut Tahrir in pasting posters at different parts of the city demanding withdrawal of the case filed against Shahidul Alam. It may be mentioned here that, charges under the Cyber Crime Act of Bangladesh was brought against Shahidul Alam for inciting anarchy in the country by using school children. As per suggestions of Al Jazeera English service, Shahidul Alam had used the school children in a “road safety” movement, as Al Jazeera told him, using school children in such movements would bring huge media attention in favour of Mr. Alam.

Our correspondent said, Hizbut Tahrir posters were found in various parts of Dhaka city, where the militancy group demanded withdrawal of “false case” brought against “prisoner of conscious” Shahidul Alam. This group had circulated separate posters in English and Bangla. In the Bangla poster, Hizbut Tahrir had termed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as a “traitor”. It also called for establishing Caliphate under the leadership of Hizbut Tahrir.

Arrested Hizbut Tahrir man Mehedi Masnad Saimum completed his Masters in Business Administration from the Independent University of Bangladesh in 2018. He is working with a local business conglomerate named Bally Group. Since 2016, he was motivated by an Al Qaeda man named Siam. He has been associated with Hizbut Tahrir since many years.

Mehedi Masnad Saimum has been one of the most active member of Hizbut Tahrir and he was giving jihadist indoctrination to local youths and luring them in joining “battle against the enemies of Islam.”

According to information, international terror outfits are using Hizbut Tahrir as their local franchise and were plotting attacks on the Western diplomats in Dhaka prior to the upcoming general election in Bangladesh.

Commenting on the arrest of Al Qaeda linked Mehedi Masnad Saimum and Hizbut Tahrir’s exposed solidarity with photographer Shahidul Alam, counterterrorism experts said, the sudden emergence of Shahidul Alam as a “blue-eyed” darling of several prominent figures in the world already sound dubious. It is gradually becoming clear that Mr. Alam has political ambition and has already started giving his opinion on the Bangladeshi politics to the global media.

They added, Hizbut Tahrir has strong base in the UK and it is most likely, Shahidul Alam had established discreet connections with this militancy outfit through any of his contacts in Britain.

It may also be mentioned here that, Shahidul Alam is violently anti Israel and considers ISIS kingpin Abu Bakr al Baghdadi as a “creation of Mossad.”

Although Bangladesh government had banned Hizbut Tahrir many years back, the website of the militancy group is still live. In a post dated November 29, 2018, this militancy group had termed India as a “Musrik” (apostate) and “Enemy” state. The headline of the post is: “Week Long Tour by 25 Bangladesh Army Officers and their Spouses in India: An Evil Ploy by this Mushrik Enemy State to Recruit its Agents with the Cooperation of Treacherous Hasina Regime.”

Hizbut Tahrir’s media office is mentioned to as: Al Mazraa, P.O. Box 14-5010, Beirut, Lebanon, Tel: +96-113-07594, Mobile: +96-171-724043.

Hizbut Tahrir has 29 branches throughout the world including America. The America chapter of Hizbut Tahrir is maintaining a separate website. In America, this militancy group’s phone number is +1-202-930-1924.

Hizbut Tahrir’s Palestine chapter website is here, while the Britain chapter’s website of this militancy outfit is here.

Hizbut Tahrir (Hizb ut-Tahrir) preaches Caliphate and has expanded to 50 countries with over one million followers. This group was founded in 1953 by a Palestinian named Taqiuddin-at-Nabhani [Muhammad Taqi al-Din bin Ibrahim bin Mustafah bin Ismail bin Yusuf al-Nabhani]. He studied Sharia law at Al-Azhar University and the Dar-ul-Ulum college of Cairo.

In the Western nations, this militancy outfit is extremely active in the United Kingdom and has been recruiting members mostly from the educational institutions. This militancy group maintains deeper ties with international terror outfits such as Al Qaeda and ISIS. It also has been recruiting jihadists for joining war against the Jewish State.