Bangladesh arrests leader of Rohingya insurgent group

Midhat Fatimah with DPA, AFP news agencies

03/19/2025March 19, 2025

ARSA chief Ataullah Abu Ammar Jununi is accused of carrying out deadly 2017 attacks that led to a brutal military crackdown in Myanmar and forced 750,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee to Bangladesh.

The Bangladeshi police arrested Ataullah Abu Ammar Jununi along with his five associates near Dhaka [FILE: July 26, 2024] Image: picture alliance/NurPhoto

Police in Bangladesh have arrested the leader of a Rohingya insurgent group who was allegedly involved in carrying out attacks against Myanmar security forces, authorities said on Tuesday.

Ataullah Abu Ammar Jununi, the 48-year-old chief of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), was arrested near the capital Dhaka as he was suspected of murder and carried out acts of sabotage, district police chief Praytush Kumar Majumder told the media.

Jununi and five of his associates were arrested by the elite Rapid Action Battalion on Tuesday. Another four of his associates were arrested in the central district of Mymensingh, police said.

The police first took them into custody for interrogation.

Later, a district court approved a 10-day remand for custodial interrogation of the suspects in connection with charges of murder, sabotage, and illegal entry into Bangladesh, police inspector Kaiyum Khan said.

ARSA's history of criminal activity

ARSA was formed as an insurgent group against the stateless Muslim minority's persecution in Myanmar.

Jununi has headed the insurgent group in Myanmar's northern Rakhine State since 2016, according to a report by the International Crisis Group.

While Jununi was leading ARSA in 2017, the organization was accused of carrying out deadly attacks on security posts in Rakhine.

He is believed to have orchestrated the 2017 attacks. He first came to public attention soon after in videos posted online, where he was seen with masked gunmen vowing to liberate the Rohingya from "dehumanized oppression."

The attacks prompted a brutal military crackdown in Myanmar that drove more than 750,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee to Bangladesh.

Jununi is also accused of involvement in the murder of a Bangladeshi military intelligence officer.

ARSA is also accused of cross-border drug smuggling, kidnappings, abductions, extortion and torture in Bangladeshi refugee camps.

Edited by: Wesley Dockery

Midhat Fatimah Writer and reporter based in New Delhi

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