British / Pakistani ISIS suspect, Zakaria Saqib Mahmood,
is arrested in Bangladesh on suspicion of recruiting jihadists to fight in
Syria
• Local police named arrested Briton as Zakaria Saqib
Mahmood, also known as Zak, living in 70 Eversleigh Road, Westham, E6 1HQ
London
• They suspect him of recruiting militants for
ISIS in two Bangladeshi cities
• He arrived in the country in February, having
previously spent time in Syria and Pakistan
• Suspected militant recruiter also recently
visited Australia
A forty year old Muslim British man has been
arrested in Bangladesh on suspicion of recruiting would-be jihadists to fight
for Islamic State terrorists in Syria and Iraq.
The man, who police named as Zakaria Saqib Mahmood
born 24th August 1977, also known as Zak, is understood to be of Pakistani
origin and was arrested near the Kamalapur Railway area of the capital city
Dhaka.
He is also suspected of having attempted to
recruit militants in the northern city of Sylhet - where he is understood to
have friends he knows from living in Newham, London - having reportedly first
arrived in the country about six months ago to scout for potential extremists.
Militants: The British Pakistani man (sitting on
the left) named as Zakaria Saqib Mahmood was arrested in Bangladesh.
The arrested man has been identified as Zakaria Saqib
Mahmood, sources at the media wing of Dhaka Metropolitan Police told local
newspapers.
He is believed to have arrived in Bangladesh in
February and used social media websites including Facebook to sound out local
men about their interest in joining ISIS, according Monirul Islam - joint
commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police - who was speaking at a press
briefing today.
Zakaria has openly shared Islamist extremist
materials on his Facebook and other social media links.
An example of Zakaria Saqib Mahmood sharing
Islamist materials on his Facebook profile
He targeted Muslims from Pakistan as well as
Bangladesh, Mr Islam added, before saying: 'He also went to Australia but we
are yet to know the reason behind his trips'.
Zakaria Saqib Mahmood trip to Australia in order
to recruit for militant extremist groups
'From his passport we came to know that he went
to Pakistan where we believe he met a Jihadist named Rauf Salman, in addition
to Australia during September last year to meet some of his links he recruited
in London, mainly from his weekly charity food stand in East London, ' the DMP
spokesperson went on to say.
Police believes Zakaria Mahmood has met Jihadist
member Rauf Salman in Pakistan
Zakaria Saqib Mahmood was identified by the
local police in Pakistan in the last September. The number of extremists he has
met in this trip remains unknown yet.
Zakaria Saqib
Mahmood uses charity food stand as a cover to ra dicalise local people in New ham,
London.
Investigators: Dhaka Metropolitan Police believe
Zakaria Saqib Mhamood arrived in Bangladesh in February and used social media
websites including Facebook to sound out local men about their interest in
joining ISIS
The news comes just days after a 40-year-old
East London bogus college owner called Sinclair Adamson - who also had links to
the northern city of Sylhet - was arrested in Dhaka on suspicion of recruiting
would-be fighters for ISIS.
Zakaria Saqib Mahmood, who has studied at CASS
Business School, was arrested in Dhaka on Thursday after being reported for
recruiting militants.
Just one day before Zakaria Mahmood's arrest,
local police detained Asif Adnan, 26, and Fazle Elahi Tanzil, 24, who were
allegedly travelling to join ISIS militants in Syria, assisted by an unnamed
Briton.
It is understood the suspected would-be
jihadists were planning to travel to a Turkish airport popular with tourists,
before travelling by road to the Syrian border and then slipping across into
the warzone.
Porous border: It is understood the suspected
would-be jihadists were planning to travel to a Turkish airport popular with
tourists, before travelling to the Syrian border (pictured) and then slipping
into the warzone
Zakaria Mahmood’s arrest came just two days
after Bangladeshi detectives revealed they were searching for a London-based
ISIS agent who had recruited several young men arrested in recent weeks,
according to the Telegraph.
Three alleged recruits were arrested last week,
including the son of a retired judge and the other the son of a senior civil
servant.
They had been told they would travel to Syria
via Turkey posing as followers of Tabligh Jamaat - an Islamic religious study
group not affiliated with any terror collective.