2 killed in terror den
A faction of Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh had plotted to carry out subversive activities at the court building of Chattogram, Rab claimed after busting a “militant den” in the district's Mirsarai yesterday.
Two members of the faction were killed in a blast inside the hideout, a tin-shed house in Uttar Sonapahar of Jorarganj union, during an operation of Rab-7, said the elite crime-busters.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. The identities of the suspects, aged between 28 to 35 years, could not be known immediately.
“The two were active members of a faction of the banned JMB and we have information that they had planned to carry out subversive activities at the Chattogram court building,” said Commander Mufti Mahmud Khan, director of Rab's legal and media wing.
The Rapid Action Battalion started the operation at the one-storey building, just beside the Dhaka-Chattogram highway, around 3:00am yesterday.
After the end of the eight-hour drive, Rab personnel recovered an AK-22 rifle, three foreign-made pistols, five improvised explosive devices, and a huge amount of grenade-making materials and some documents.
AK-22 rifles were used by militants in the Holy Artisan Bakery siege in Gulshan on July 1, 2016, Mufti told reporters at the spot.
With the death of two, at least 82 suspected militants have been killed in anti-militancy drives by law enforcers since the Gulshan café attack.
“Analysing our intelligence and documents found at the house, we learnt about the JMB's plan,” Mufti said, adding that Rab foiled their attempt through this operation.
Sources said based on information from arrested terror suspects and intercepted communications of militants, the Rab men cordoned off the “Chowdhury Mansion”, owned by one Mazharul Islam Chowdhury.
Sensing their presence, the militants started shooting from inside the house, forcing the Rab personnel to open fire in retaliation and called for additional force.
The gunfight stopped after around 4:00am and there was a massive explosion inside the house around 4:30am, said Mufti.
Rab later found two male bodies, both torn apart, and CID officials suspect it could be suicide blasts. The body parts were sent to Chittagong Medical College Hospital for autopsy.
The bomb disposal unit of Rab arrived around 8:30am and started to defuse the undetonated grenades hurled by the militants. Rab called off the operation around 11:30am, officials said.
Introducing himself as a worker of a steel mill, one Sohel rented three rooms of the house at Tk 5,000 a month from the caretaker named Haque Shaheb on September 28. He told the caretaker that his wife, mother and another person will stay with him, according to Rab.
“During interrogation, both the caretaker and owner said a woman came along with Sohel when he moved in, but she left after a few days,” said Mufti Mahmud.
Neither the owner nor the caretaker lives in the house.
Of the two other rooms, one was rented by a person named Naim, whom Rab officials managed to evacuate, sources said. Details about him could not be known yet, while the sources added he is under Rab custody.
“Rab detained the house owner, caretaker and another resident of the house for interrogation. We are looking for the woman who stayed at the house,” Mufti said.
Md Belal Hossen, 28, a neighbour, told The Daily Star, “We woke up hearing gunshots and explosion, and some Rab officials came and asked us to move to safely.
“We don't know about the residents of the house but heard that they are workers of a factory.”
While visiting the spot, it was found that the roof was blown off in the middle. There were bullet marks and bloodstains on the walls, the doors and windows.
CID officials reached the spot around noon and collected evidence. Two cases would be filed in this connection, said Iftekhar Hossen, officer-in-charge of Jorarganj Police Station.
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