New Delhi: A special unit of Bangladesh police, the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit, has claimed that the banned armed group Harkat ul Jihaad ul Islami (HUJI) has formed a “robbers’ wing” in the country’s southern and northern regions to fund itself.Top CTTC officials have made the claim after interrogating six robbers arrested in Dhaka on December 26.According to a January 2 news report in The Daily Star, while three of those arrested – Abul Miah, Rafiqul Islam, and Abdur Rahman – gave “confessional statements under section 164 before a Dhaka court” on December 31, the rest – Illal Hossain, Nur Alam, and Akter Hossain – were presented to the court on January 2 after completing five days of remand. The report, quoting CTTC officials said, “As per the plan, the banned militant outfit leaders managed to communicate with 20 people, who were involved in petty crimes like snatching and theft. These people were asked to use chloroform on their victims.” Also read: Home Ministry Set to Miss Deadline for Fencing India-Bangladesh BorderIt said, “The leaders wanted 30% cut for the ‘welfare’ of the wing,” adding, “The wing was supposed to take care of all legal issues of the members if they got arrested. It was also supposed to pay for arrested or on-the-run gang member’s family expenses.”“We have got some clues and information about the absconding HUJI leaders and activists. We are now conducting drives to arrest them,” SK Imran Hossain, assistant commissioner of CTTC unit, told the Dhaka-based newspaper on January 1.The report said it was not the first time “a HUJI robber gang” was arrested by the security forces. “Before the arrest of the six, 12 members of the outfit’s ‘robber wing’ were detained on March 4 last year (2019). They were planning to rob a bank branch in the capital’s Jatrabari, DB (Detective Branch) officials said.”The Bangladesh-based terror outfit was widely believed to be behind the 2008 serial blasts in Guwahati which killed 88 people and injured at least 540 others. However, a CBI inquiry later put the blame on the Ranjan Daimary faction of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB). In January 2019, Daimary was sentenced to life imprisonment for the strike.