Rohingya leader Mohib Ullah murder: ARSA commander arrested

The chief commander of Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army’s (ARSA) Ulema branch, who issued a fatwa to assassinate Rohingya leader Mohib Ullah, was arrested from Ukhiya Rohingya camp in Cox’s Bazar.

The arrestee has been identified as Zakaria, 55, of Lambasia Camp-1 of Ukhiya.

Armed Police Battalion (APBn) arrested Zakaria 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 Huque, commander of the 14th APBn, on Sunday morning.

“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 Zakaria 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 at the Kutupalong camp area.

Legal processes are underway against him, SP Naimul added.

So far, 10 Rohingya men have been arrested in connection with Mohib Ullah murder case. Of them, two gave confessional statements of involvement in the murder before the court.

Commander of APBn-14 SP Naimul Huque said during primary interrogation, 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 Aziz.

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.