COX’S BAZAR: Five Rohingya men have been arrested over the killing of a prominent community leader in a refugee camp in Bangladesh, police said on Sunday, adding that they were probing links to a militant group.

Mohibullah — a high-profile figurehead for the more than 800,000-strong Muslim minority who fled the Myanmar military in a mass exodus — was killed by gunmen late Wednesday in one of the spawling camps in southeast Bangladesh.

His family blamed militants from the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), a group behind several attacks in Myanmar, with activists claiming they were enraged by his growing popularity in the camps.

“We have arrested five people over the murder of Mohibullah,” the commanding officer of the police unit in charge of camp security, Naimul Haque, said.

Two of the men were remanded in custody for three days for questioning, authorities said. The other three have not yet appeared in court. A 28-year-old Rohingya man was also arrested over the murder last week.

All six are being investigated for links to ARSA, which has instead blamed “unidentified criminals” for his death.

A member of the rights group that Mohibullah headed up alleged that one of those arrested, 35-year-old Mohammad Elias, was a member of ARSA and had threatened the popular leader in June.

The member, who asked to remain anonymous as he feared for his safety, said at least ten leaders of Mohibullah’s group were in hiding as they were afraid of more attacks.

And while authorities have stepped up security in the camps, Mohibullah’s family said they were afraid of even stepping outside their homes.

Published in Dawn, October 4th, 2021