United News of Bangladesh

A suspected member of the banned militant outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) has detained and several crude bombs and bomb-making materials have been recovered during a raid by the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit of Dhaka Metropolitan Police on a building in Savar, with the operation continuing into early Wednesday. The detainee was identified as Arif Hossain, 25. The operation was launched at a four-storey building owned by Abdul Jalil in the Dakkhin Shyampur area with the help of local police in the evening. Locals said CTTC members surrounded the building shortly after 7:00pm and cordoned off the area. Residents of around 10 neighbouring houses were also evacuated as a precautionary measure. Officer-in-Charge of Savar Model Police Station Saiful Alam said CTTC personnel detained Arif from the house, and recovered several crude bombs and materials used to make explosives from the building. Around 10:30pm, some CTTC members were seen leaving the area with Arif and heading towards Dhaka. They declined to speak to journalists, although one of the members said they were taking the detainee to another location as part of the operation. Later, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) members joined the operation. Around 12:10am on Wednesday, a crude bomb was thrown at the law enforcers from inside the building. Earlier in the evening, CTTC members, accompanied by the bomb disposal unit and local police, took position near the building beside a waterlogged road in Shyampur. At the beginning of the operation, CTTC personnel asked journalists and other civilians to move away from the building citing security concerns. OC Saiful Alam said a significant quantity of explosives was recovered during the operation. Members of the CTTC bomb disposal unit removed the explosives using special precautions, he said. Based on reliable information, Arif was detained on suspicion of having links with a militant organisation, while the explosives were recovered from the same premises, the OC said.