Detectives produce four militants including "Bangladesh coordinator" of Middle East-based terrorist outfit Islamic State for media briefing at Dhaka Metropolitan Police Monday. Photo: STAR

A Dhaka court today placed four Islamic State militant group leaders including its 'Bangladesh coordinator' on a five-day remand.
Metropolitan Magistrate Mizanur Rahman passed the order after the Detectives Branch of police produced them before the court with a 10-day remand.
Earlier in the day, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) claimed arrest of the four Middle East-based terrorist outfit militants.
The arrestees were identified before the media as Sakhawatul Kabir, regional commander of IS Bangladesh chapter, Nazrul Alam, a financier, Anwar Hossain, a convict of an explosions case, and Rabiul Islam.

• The arrested are all members of Islamic State
• Sakhawat fought for IS in Pakistan
• They were planning recruitment, otherwise join fight in Syria

Passports, mobile phones, Pakistan's visa application form, laptops, leaflets, and books and video clips on militancy were seized from them.

They were held from Jatrabari and Khilkhet areas of Dhaka sometime around last night, Khandaker Rabiul Ahsan, assistant commissioner of DMP (media), told The Daily Star.

Detectives seize passports, mobile phones, Pakistan's visa application form, laptops, leaflets, and books and video clips on militancy from four militants including "Bangladesh coordinator" of Middle East-based terrorist outfit Islamic State Monday. Photo: STAR

Information of their arrest was floated to the media this morning in a message conveyed by the DMP. But, the text did not specify how those detained were linked to the IS.

Later, in a press briefing at the DMP media centre, Sheikh Nazmul Alam, deputy commissioner of DMP north, said their link with the IS was confirmed after primary interrogation.

"They confessed their involvement with the militant outfit," he said.

SAKHAWAT FOUGHT FOR IS IN PAKISTAN

Sakhawat is the Bangladesh regional commander of the IS. His prime target was media focus with acts of sabotage and murder of prominent individuals in the country.

"Through the exposure, he would have gone for recruitment," police official Nazmul said.

As an English department student of Titumir College in Dhaka, Sakhawat went for a business involving computers before completing his studies. "There he became an IT expert."

He joined the now banned militant outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) in 2006 and later joined the IS in Pakistan in 2009 and fought for the group there.

"He was a close aide of Sajjad, aka Ezaz, aka Aziz, the Karachi chapter IS chief who died in a police crackdown after the blast at Peshawar that killed at least 140 people, mostly children."

After he came back to the country, his primary objective was to recruit IS operatives in Bangladesh.

"If his objective failed, he would have gone on and joined the fight in Syria through Turkey and Egypt," the police official said.

A case was filed against the arrestees and they would soon be sought for interrogation in custody under remand.