Committed to PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO KNOW
Vol. 5 Num 923 Sun. December 31, 2006  
   
Front Page


Explosives, Rab garb found at militant den


Law enforcers yesterday seized bomb-making materials and uniforms of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) when they busted two militant dens at Mograpara in Narayanganj and Kaliakoir in Gazipur following leads from two Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) activists arrested in Tangail on Friday.

The items seized from Mograpara in Narayanganj include power gel and detonators used in preparing bombs, seven sets of black uniform that resembles Rab uniform, seven pairs of black boots, four masks, 26 Islamic books, one CD, some documents and a handwritten letter.

Bomb-making materials recovered from a house at Shafipur under Kaliakoir in Gazipur include 21 detonators, 500grams coal powder, transistor coil and four batteries. Besides, police arrested one and picked up three others from Kaliakoir area for interrogation. JMB commander Hasan had rented the house three months back.

Meanwhile the two JMB cadres, Abdur Rahman Alal alias Fahad and Saiful Islam, arrested in Tangail on Friday with four firearms, ammunition and detonators, confessed to police that they had been executing orders from JMB commanders Hasan and Rakib.

Tangail police arrested Fahad and Saiful this Friday with firearms and detonators after they shot and wounded a policeman and an informant during checking luggage of a passenger bus at Rabna bypass intersection on Dhaka-Jamuna Multipurpose Bridge Extension Road in Tangail.

A special team from Rab headquarters and members of different intelligence agencies interrogated both of the JMB members on Friday night, reported our Tangail correspondent.

The two also confessed that they had been following Hasan's lead to break free arrested members of JMB and to launch a massive terror attack, a police official quizzing the two arrested JMB men told The Daily Star yesterday.

Members of Rab, police and detective branch intensified their manhunt at different places in Gazipur and Narayanganj to arrest Hasan his aides. Hasan is the commander of Dhaka and Narayanganj district unit of the banned militants outfit, said the sources. Joydevpur police on December 19 arrested Hasan's younger brother and Tangail district commander of JMB Abdullah Taslim alias Nahid, 20.

Our Narayanganj correspondent reports, police yesterday raided arrested JMB activist Saiful's rented house at his birthplace Mograpara during early hours. Saiful had rented two rooms of a house of Saudi Arabia expatriate Mokhter Hossain 15 days back identifying himself as a student of Madanpur Madrasa.

Saiful, son of late Kalamuddin of Farazikandi area in Bandar upazila, secured primary scholarship in 2003. His mother Shafia Begum told reporters that she noticed changes in Saiful when he was studying in class VII and he used to disappear occasionally from the house without notice. The letter police recovered from Saiful's den was written to a woman whom he addressed 'apa' (sister) and requested her for money to be used for JMB militants on the run.

Our correspondent in Gazipur said Rab and Kaliakoir police raided the house of Abdul Khaleq at Shafipur to recover bomb-making materials and arrest two suicide squad members of JMB -- Hasan Ali and Mizanur. Police said they arrested house owner Abdul Khaleq for his suspected link with JMB and detained Ibrahim Mian, Shaon, Anisur Rahman and Farid for interrogation.