Dhaka police say Samiun Rahman, 24, from London, recruited jihadis for Islamic State as well as Jabhat al-Nusra in Syria

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

A British man from London has been arrested in Bangladesh on suspicion of recruiting people to fight for al-Qaida affiliates in the Middle East.

Paraded in front of cameras in handcuffs, and dressed in a long robe, Samiun Rahman, 24, was said by Dhaka police to have confessed to recruiting in Bangladesh on behalf of Islamic State (Isis) and Jabhat al-Nusra, another jihadi group in Syria.

Police also told news agencies that Rahman had travelled to Syria with a friend from Britain, going on to take up arms for four months in 2013 for Nusra.

Rahman, who has also used the name Ibn Hamdan Miah, was born in London, police said, but his parents were from a town north-east of Dhaka and he had been in the country for six months.

“We have arrested about five people with whom he had communication and there are another three or four persons we are still trying to identify,” Monirul Islam, joint commissioner of the detective branch of police in Dhaka told the Guardian.

A Dhaka court has allowed the police to hold Rahman on remand for three days.

In a statement police said: “ was staying in Bangladesh to recruit jihadists for the [Islamic State] and Jabhat al-Nusra. “He came here as he thought it was possible to send people from Bangladesh [to Syria],” added Monirul Islam, joint commissioner of the detective and criminal intelligence division.Last week, police arrested seven suspected members of the Islamist outfit Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh in a Dhaka suburb who said they had also established contact with Isis.

The suspects were reported to be in possession of materials used to manufacture explosives and planned to attack high-profile individuals.

The director of the East London Mosque, Dilowar Khan, said he did not recognise Rahman, adding that up to 7,000 people prayed there on Friday.