& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

NGO founder’s arrest still not made official

UK-based father claims Faisal as detained; 2 cases filed excluding him; another NGO funded setting up of Bhola madrasa

JULFIKAR ALI MANIK with SHARIFUL ISLAM
The law enforcement agencies yesterday denied arresting British citizen Faisal Mostafa, alleged patron of the militants den busted in Bhola. while his relatives in Dhaka and Manchester claimed he has been detained since Wednesday.
'My relatives in Dhaka called me around UK time 7:00am Wednesday (1:00pm local time) and said my son has been detained in Dhaka." Faisal's father Golam Mostafa told The Daily Star last night.
Over phone from Manchester, he also talked about how his son manages funds for his charity Green Crescent that runs the madrasa-cum-orphanage by the same name, where the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) unearthed a minimunitions factory Wednesday.
Meanwhile. Faisal has not yet been named accused in any of the two cases filed in connection with the recovery of firearms, ammunition and explosives from Green Crescent madrasa.
Golam Mostafa, who visited the Islamic seminary in Ramkeshob village uncjer Borhanuddin upazila in January, claimed it is only an orphanage.
He said his son would send money for the organisation through Manchester branch of state-owned Sonali Bank. The funds would be deposited in two accounts with Doulatkha branch of Sonali Bank.
Badal, Alam and Humayun operate the accounts in Doulatkha.
"Time and again, I've asked my son to
maintain one account," Mostafa said.
He said the last time he talked to his son was three days back. Faisal told him he was in Dhaka. "I think he knew nothing about Rab's weapon haul at the orphanage in Bhola.”
He found his son's cellphone switched-off when he tried to reach him after learning about his 'arrest'.
Most probably, he continued, the law enforcers have taken away the phone.
Mostafa said he has yet to know exactly where and when Faisal was captured.
He said his son was picked up from a relative's house. He claimed he does not know the name and address of the relative, who is an army major.
FROM PAGE 1
He contacted the Bntish high commission in Dhaka, seeking help for his son. " Hie high commission officials told me that Faisal has dual citizenship. I said my son stayed in Bangladesh for only four years after his birth in 1965. He lives in U K since 1969."
Asked about the recovery of ammo-making materials, explosives and firearms from the orphanage, Mostafa said, rather vaguely, "My son likes hunting deer and birds. Besides, he has a PhD in chemical engi-neenng."
He also claimed his son cannot have any links to Islamist militants.
ler his role in a campaign against the war in Bosnia in 1996, the British authorities arrested him. but could not prow the terror charges against him.
Mostafa however admitted that Faisal was imprisoned for 18 months for illegal possession of a pistol.
"It was nothing but negligence in obtaining a licence for the pistol he had just purchased." hecontinued.
In July last year. Faisal was handed down a 56-day suspended imprisonment for trying to get aboard a plane with a gun.
He said his son is involved in social welfare and charity' activities. and on occasions like Eid-ul-Azha and Ramadan, he collects small donations from Muslims in the UK and remits the money to Bhola.
When he visits Bangladesh, he could carry’ a maximum 5,000 pounds in cash as permitted by the British currency law.
He said one Zafar Ahmed, hailing from Noakhali, is the chairman of Green Crescent Charity's governing body in Borhanuddin. He does not know about the other members.
Mostafa said the funds spent to construct the building for Green Crescent in Ramkeshob came from Human Appeal International (HAW), an organisation that collects funds from Arab countries to distnb-ute among various chan ties.
HAW has its origins in Palestine, but is based in London.
About his son's source of income, he said Faisal has a part-time job as a chemical consultant at an English firm in ।London. He works two days a week and earns 15,006 pound a year.
Before joining the firm, he taught English to expatriates in the UK.
He is father of two sons and a daughter, and his wife is a part-time teacher at a Manchester school.
Mostafa said his son and his family live with him in his house at 62. Green Pastures. Stockport, UK
He said Faisal likes Islamic songs In the orphanage in Borhanuddin, he hits a plan to teach students Quran, mathematics, English and science. He (Raisall has no intention to raise the children as mullahs; rather he is keen to give them modern education."
Our Bansal correspondent reports: Rab officials said since they did not yet find Faisal s involvement in stockpiling arms and ammunition at (he madrasa, they did not include him as an accused in the arms haul cases.
Sub-inspector Rafiqul Islam, who is now acting in-charge of Borhanuddin Police Station, told The Daily Star over phone that he had gone through die case documents, but did not find Faisal's name anywhere.
Liter, Rab-8 commander Lt Col Maiurul Haque told The Daily Star that only those whose names came up in statements of the detainees have been made accused.
Faisal was not included as accused as none of the arrestees has admitted ever having met the Bangladesh-born UK citizen, he added.
However, he added, Faisal's name would be included in the charge sheet if die arrestees give any information connecting him to the weapon cache.
Meanwhile, the law enforcers have detected at least eight more people with suspected links to Green Crescent Madrasa and launched a hunt for them.
Lt Col Manirul told The Daily Star that the arrestees would be sent to Dhaka to be grilled by the Taskforce Interrogation cell.