DHAKA: Seven including three Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) militants were arrested and huge explosives including 17 grenades and one pipe bomb were seized in a drive at a JMB den in city’s Mirpur area on Thursday.
The drives, which began early Thursday, ended around 4:00pm amid the threat to explode the building by the banned extremist outfit.
Four of the detainees were identified as two students of BUBATA Nahid and Mamun, Nahid’s nephew Raj who is also a class XI student of Simanta School and College and Russel, a HR executive of an online marketing company.
Declaring the end of the drive Detective Branch (DB) of police joint commissioner Monirul Islam told the media that they are now preparing the list of seized-items and legal process.
The law enforcers have disposed the grenades and bombs and now questioning the detainees, he added.
After visiting the house, Monirul said that they have found all materials for making grenades and bombs there.
According to him, materials of making at least 200 grenades and bombs have been seized from the house.
He further said that that they assume that the JMB men were using the house for making grenades and bombs.
Even then, the militants supplied grenades and bombs in recent attacks from this place, members of the law enforcement agencies added.
They have found similarities between the grenades used at Hussaini Dalan and found at the house.
Several hundred members of police, RAB and detective branch (DB) of police took part in the drive.
Earlier, bomb disposal unit chief ADC Sarwar Hossain told banglanews they detained a person on Wednesday (December 23) for his alleged involvement with the Hussaini Dalan blast incident.
After getting information from him, the law enforcers conducted the drive.
He further said, “The JMB members have introduced themselves as students and rented two flats. Here they used to make grenades”.
However, police opened 10 rounds of rubber bullets and two teargas shells during the drive, he added.
DB joint commissioner Monirul Islam said the detainees were taken to DB office for quizzing.
However, police is looking into the matter whether any other members of that six-storey house were connected to them.
BDST: 1918 HRS, DEC 24, 2015
RR/SMS
