by Arifur Rahman Rabbi in Dhaka Tribune, September 06, 2017
Rapid Action Battalion cordoned off a militant hideout in Mirpur’s Darus Salam area in Dhaka for nearly 24 hours with a suspected member of a new faction of Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) holed up inside the building with large amount of explosives.
After daylong communication over phone with the militant, identified as Abdullah, RAB spokesperson Mufti Mahmud Khan on Tuesday evening said that Abdullah had agreed to surrender between 7:30pm and 8pm along with his two wives and as many children and two associates.
However, around 9:47pm, the militants had exploded five bombs, three of them deafening, catching the security forces by surprise. Those were followed by exchange of gunfire between the militants and RAB personnel.
As gunbattle continued, smoke was seen billowing from the building, according to this correspondent who was present at the scene.
Around 10:40pm, Mufti told reporters that four RAB members had received minor injuries from the splinters. “But we don’t know the condition of the militants yet.”
“After these blasts, we’ll follow protocol to resolve the situation. We’ll also coordinate with the Fire Service to take care of the fire originated from the bombs.”
Until 11pm Tuesday, when this report was filed, the militants did not surrender.
RAB also did not make any final statement regarding the late night development. However, onlookers speculated that the militants holed up inside may have died in the late explosions.
Earlier in the day, Abdullah’s sister, who had surrendered at noon, and the six-storey building’s owner Habibullah Bahar Azad were taken into RAB custody and being interrogated, sources said.
Prior to that, RAB Director General Benazir Ahmed had told reporters about Abdullah and six others being holed up on the fourth floor of the building named “Komol Prova” on Bordhon Bari Road at Darus Salam.
A total of 65 residents of 23 flats in the building, about only 250 yards far from the Darus Salam police station, were evacuated in the early hours, after RAB laid a siege on it around 1:30am Tuesday, he said.
“When contacted, Abdullah told us that he had over 50 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) with him. He has been living in this area for a long time while working as an electrician who also sold pigeons on the side.”
Mufti Mahmud Khan said: “We came to know about this den from two other militants arrested in Tangail on Monday.
“We maintained constant communication with Abdullah as we are tried to convince them to surrender. They did throw several bombs at us from the fourth floor after we cordoned off the building. Later in the evening, Abullah agreed to surrender.”
Members of law enforcement agencies had taken position on all the streets near the building since the early hours. But they were not alert when the militants exploded more bombs a little before 10pm.
Gulshan Ara, who lives on the third floor, told reporters: “We heard the first explosion around 1:30am. RAB officials evacuated us around 6am. I never had any interaction with the people living on the fourth floor.”
According to RAB, Abdullah, who locals said had beard and long hair, used to work at an electrical store making and repairing Instant Power Supply (IPS) units. He also owned a shop at Darus Salam few years back, but had to shut it down after facing losses.
Since then, he made and repaired IPS at his home, while trading in pigeons on the side. Abdullah, his two wives and two children, have been living in that home since 2003, said RAB.
Sources said the man, who hails from Chuadanga, had gotten involved with the Islamist militants in 2005.
Tangail arrests
On Monday, RAB arrested two other JMB militants Nurul Huda alias Masum, 30, and Mazharul Islam alias Khokon, 27, from their home at Elenga in Tangail’s Kalihati upazila with several firearms and a large quantity of Jihadi books.
The two brothers had planned to carry out attacks using explosive-carrying drones. They had also initially targeted some places for their attacks, according to RAB.
Before Eid-ul-Azha, the two had met other JMB members at Abdullah’s home to prepare for the attacks. According to their statements given to RAB, a large amount of explosives was stored at Abdullah’s home at Darus Salam.
Khokon, a former electrical and electronics engineering student at Eastern University, is the alleged mastermind behind their drone attack plan and Masum was his helping hand.
However, RAB said, both of them used to post pro-militancy speeches in social networking sites like Facebook and try to recruit members for the JMB. http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/dhaka/2017/09/06/mirpur-militants-hold-nearly-24-hours/
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