Two die in jt police raid on Narsingdi ‘militant hideouts’

October 17, 2018 00:00:00

Law-enforcers cordoned off Shekerchar area in Narsingdi Sadar during a drive at a militant hideout there on Tuesday, in which two suspected Neo-JMB members were killed — bdnews24.com

NARSINGDI, Oct 16 (UNB): The bodies of two suspected militants were recovered from a 'militant den' at Bhogiratpur in Sadar upazila of the district following a joint operation, 'Gordian Knot', on Tuesday.

Briefing journalists around 4.00 pm, CTTC chief Monirul Islam said the operation in the five-storey building at Bhogiratpur ended around 4.00 pm with the recovery of the bodies of two militants, including a female one.

"We had asked them to surrender before launching an assault on the den but they opened fire on us that triggered a gunfight. The suspected militants died during the gunfight," he said.

A firearm and four unexploded bombs were recovered from the den, he added.

Earlier, members of Counter Terrorism and Transnational (CTTC) unit of DMP and Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) started the operation at the 'militant den' in the morning.

The CTTC unit kept another den cordoned off at Madhabdi in Sadar upazila since Monday night.

Abul Kalam, officer-in-charge (investigation) of Madhabdi Police Station, said over 100 police surrounded the seven-storey building of Afzal Hazi in the Gangpar area under Madhabdi municipality and another five-storey building of cloth trader Billah Hossain in Bhogiratpur area around 9.00pm Monday.

Two SWAT teams and detectives joined the CTTC team at night.

Later, a team of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) also joined them on Tuesday morning.

CTTC chief Monirul Islam reached the spot in the Bhogiratpur area at 9.00 am and briefed reporters that they were suspecting that some 3-4 militants have been staying along with explosives inside the house.

After the arrival of Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Dhaka Range Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, PPM, at the spot around 10:10 am, Monirul Islam urged the militants over loudspeaker to surrender.

Having no response, a SWAT team entered the den around 11:30am and started their drive.

Inspector General (IG) of Bangladesh Police Dr Mohammad Javed Patwary reached the spot around 12.00pm.

Earlier at night, the district administration imposed section 144 in and around 500-yard areas of both the buildings, said Shah Alam Mia, executive magistrate of Sadar upazila.