Report In The daily Star, Mar 11, 2017
Militant outfit “Neo JMB” has at least three more dens in Chittagong, and has chosen the district as its base, finding it difficult to operate in the capital.
Investigators have gleaned the information from two detained suspected militants — Mahmud Hasan and Ahmed Azwad Imtiaz Talukder alias Omi — who attacked police at a checkpoint in Comilla on Tuesday.
Acting on information from the duo, police on Wednesday busted a training centre of the militant outfit in Chittagong’s Mirsharai upazila and seized a huge cache of grenades and explosive materials.
“Omi told us that they now consider Chittagong as their base,” an official of Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit of Dhaka Metropolitan Police told The Daily Star on Thursday on condition of anonymity.
During a block raid on July 26 last year, police busted the Kalyanpur militant den in the capital where nine militants were killed.
On Thursday night, Chittagong police launched a 10-day block raid across the district to track down the hideouts of “Neo JMB”, an offshoot of banned Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), reports our Chittagong correspondent.
Police couldn’t arrest any militant suspect till yesterday morning. They, however, detained 76 people accused in cases for various offences.
“We have launched the drive based on some vital information,” Rezaul Masud, additional superintendent of police (special branch) in Chittagong, and head of the district counterterrorism unit, said yesterday.
Seeking anonymity, one of the investigators said both Hasan and Omi are members of the “Neo JMB’s killing squad”. They were on their way to the capital to carry out “a massive terror attack”.
Mohammad Shah Abid Hossain, superintendent of police in Comilla, told The Daily Star that the two are trained in the use of firearms and also bomb making. Omi has good knowledge of information technology.
“We have come to know that the outfit has special trainers for fresh recruits,” he said.
Hasan told the interrogators that he had good relations with Maynul Islam Musa, who is believed to be leading “Neo JMB”, and that Musa used to visit the outfit’s Mirsharai den.
Investigators said they learnt from the two arrestees that “Neo JMB” recently changed its strategy for carrying out attacks, as many of its operatives were either arrested or killed in pre-emptive strikes by law enforcers.
As part of the strategy, “Neo JMB” members move in small groups to carry out attacks in a more organised way. Each group has a maximum of five members, they added.
Over the last two days, police arrested four suspected militants in Mymensingh, Naogaon and Rajshahi, report our correspondents.
In separate drives in Mymensingh on Thursday, Billal Hossain, 44, and Abu Raihan Bin Sadek, 32, were arrested for their alleged militant links.
Billal, a member of Dapunia union parishad, is an accused in five criminal cases filed under the Anti-terrorism Act, the Explosive Substances Act, and the Special Powers Act, said Musfiqur Rahman, sub-inspector of Kotwali Police Station.
In Naogaon, fugitive JMB member Abdul Mannan, 45, was arrested at Tilabaduri of Atrai upazila on Friday afternoon, said police.
Mannan, a listed JMB member, is an accused in several cases, including one for extortion, said Mohammad Badruddoza, officer-in-charge of Atrai Police Station.
Besides, listed JMB member Abdur Rashid, 34, was arrested in Bagmara of Rajshahi. Rashid was an associate of executed JMB leader Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai, police said.http://www.thedailystar.net/frontpage/3-more-dens-chittagong-1374139
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