One of the four militants killed in the army operation in Sylhet is believed to be Maynul Islam Musa, a key leader of the militant outfit “Neo JMB”.

Police matched the photograph of the dead militant with that of Musa to come to this assumption.

READ more: Bomb disposal starts, 4 blasts in Atia Mahal

High officials of Sylhet police and Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit told this to The Daily Star last night.

‘Neo JMB’

“Neo JMB”, as law enforcers call it, is an offshoot of the banned militant outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB). Its coordinator Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury -- killed along with his two accomplices in an operation at a militant den in Narayanganj on August 27, 2016, -- was thought to be the Gulshan attack mastermind.

DNA samples and other evidences will be collected from the body to be sure of the dead militant’s real identity, the police sources said.

Also READ: ‘Neo JMB Leader' Musa - He covered his tracks to stay off dragnet

The body was slightly burned due to explosions during the operation at Atia Mahal in Shibbari area of Sylhet.

However, the police sources did not say whether the body is now inside Atia Mahal or it has been sent to the morgue, our staff correspondent covering the operation reports.

According to police, Musa of new-JMB, an off shoot of banned militant outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), is trying to reorganise the outfit and is carrying out targeted attacks.

Musa has become a key leader of “Neo JMB” following the killing of its top leaders, including Tamim, Maj (retd) Jahid and Tanvir Kaderi, in separate operations in Dhaka and Narayanganj, CTTC unit chief Monirul Islam, said on January 7, 2017.

Briefing reporters in Sylhet yesterday, Military Intelligence Director Brig Gen Fakhrul Ahsan said, “Today, we found four bodies on Atia Mahal's ground floor. Of the four bodies, we recovered two and handed them to police.”