Staff Reporter :
Detectives have so far arrested at least 11 suspected militants involved in recent snatching of three convicted militants of Jama’atul Mujahedin Bangladesh [JMB] from a police van in Mymensingh dirict.
They also seized 4.5kg explosives, 14 rounds of ammunition, a printed manual on militant operation and a motorbike from their possession.
The detectives nabbed five JMB suspects, linked to the snatching, raiding different parts in and outskirts of the city in last 36 hours ending Saturday morning. Two have been identified as apparel businessmen, who had allegedly provided finance for the Trishal operation.
In a daring ambush on January 23, JMB militants snatched away three JMB men Salauddin Salehin alias Sunny, Rakibul Hasan and Mizan alias Jahidul Islam alias Bomaru Mizan from a prison van at Trishal.
Rakibul Hasan, however, was killed in a shootout just within 24 hours of the incident. But Mizan and Salehin are still absconding. Police failed to track them despite a countrywide massive search for more than a month.
“The police have been conducting operation to catch the two fugitives who were snatched. Hope, they will be netted very soon…. We are now suspecting that there may be foreign sources of funding behind JMB,” Mahfuzul Hoque Nuruzzaman, Deputy Inspector General [Dhaka Range] of Police, said on Saturday.
“Altogether eleven people have been arrested in connection with the incident. Two of them are garment businessmen, who, police suspect financed the ambush in Mymensingh. The alleged financiers named ‘Alamin’ and ‘Jitu’ were arrested from Dhaka. Later, some others were arrested following a raid in Trishal,” he said.
Meanwhile, the detectives failed to nab the two snatched operatives of JMB and several others
involved in the incident till the date.
Police sources said a detained high-profile terrorist Hafez Mohammad Rakib was the mastermind of Trishal operation and two well-trained operatives of JMB – Md Zakaria alias Himel and Mohammad Faruque – carried out the plan.
They executed the plan with the support of about 12-15 men after having drill for previous eight months.
Of them, police however managed to nab Zakaria in the meantime, but Faruque is still out of the net.
“Detained Islamist militant Hafez Mohammad Rakib planned the whole operation and made liaison with some other terrorists who were supposed to come out of jail under bail privilege. As per the plan, the bailed terrorists started collecting money and getting organized for Trishal operation,” Md Monirul Islam, Joint Commissioner, Detective and Criminal Intelligence Division, Dhaka Metropolitan Police [DMP], said on Saturday at a press conference at DMP Media Centre.
He said, “To execute the plan, some detained militants kept close contact with the militants out on bail using cellular phones of prison guards. They had rented several houses at Gazipur, Konabari and Kashimpur in last eight months to find a suitable spot inside Gazipur for operation.
“But finding no appropriate spot in Gazipur areas for successful ambush, they slightly altered their plan and later chose Bhaluka-Trishal area for their snatching operation. They rented several houses in Trishal area and some of them started living there with families.
At the same time, they started collecting explosives, bomb making materials, cutter, arms and ammunition. They also managed vehicles for the act. Not only that they even had arranged a street drill on January 22 a day before the final hit,” the Jt Commissioner said.
