Armed Police Battalion (APBn) has arrested the chief commander of Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) Ulama branch, who issued the fatwa for the assassination of Rohingya leader Mohib Ullah, from Ukhiya rohingya camp of Cox’s Bazar.
The arrestee has been identified as Zokoria, 55, of Lambasia camp-1 of Ukhiya.
APBn members held Zokoria after a four-month of effort from Lambasia camp.
He went into hiding during a raid on the camp area after Mohib Ullah's assassination, confirmed SP Naimul Haque, commander of the 14th Armed Police Battalion, on Sunday morning.
Read: Mohib Ullah murder: Three alleged killers sent to two-day police remand
Zakaria had a rivalry with Rohingya leader Mohib Ullah. He is considered as the top adviser to the Rohingya camp's perpetrators, said the official.
SP Naimul also said Zokoria came to Bangladesh from Myanmar in 2015. Later, he went back there again. As a refugee in 2016, he started living in the Lambasia area. Since 2020, he has been serving as the Chief Commander of the Ulama branch of ARSA in the Kutupalong camp area.
Legal processes are underway against him, he added.
So far, ten Rohingya men have been arrested in this case. Of them, two gave confessional statements of involvement in the murder before the court.
Commander of APBn-14 SP Naimul Haque said that during primary interrogation of the accused Aziz spoke of a total of 19 Rohingya miscreants being involved in the murder plan, "and of them five, including him, were members of the killing squad".
On September 29 last year, another arrestee Murshid called Mohib to the ARSPH office to discuss Rohingya repatriation issues and informed other members of the squad, said SP Naimul quoting Azizul.
Read:Mohib Ullah murder: Killing squad member Azizul “confesses to involvement”
They fired four shots at Mohib Ullah, he said, adding that they fled the scene using a lane behind Mohib Ullah’s house.
On September 30, police filed a case over Mohib Ullah’s murder, following a complaint from his brother Habib Ullah.
On August 25, 2019, Mohib Ullah came to the limelight as a leader after holding an assembly of around five lakh Rohingyas.