Staff Reporter :
The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) on Wednesday recovered seven charred bodies, including two women and two children, from the suspected militant hideout on the Mirpur’s Mazar Road in the city on Wednesday morning.
“We found the corpses of militant Abu Abdullah, his two wives, two children and two associates across the apartment,” RAB Director General Benazir Ahmed said while talking to reporters at the spot in the afternoon.
RAB chief thinks that the dead include Abdullah, son of late Mir Yusuf Ali from Chuadanga district, his wives Nasrin and Fatema, sons Umar and Usama and his two employees, whose names could not be confirmed.
The RAB men also recovered several bones from the spot, he said the identities of the deceased could be confirmed after DNA test, the DG said.
The RAB chief said also that the explosives, which went off on Tuesday night, had been made of acid, petrol and chemicals and these completely destroyed the third and fourth floors of the building. The law enforcers left the spot quickly as the temperature there was 55-60 Degree Celsius, he said.
“We tried to rescue the innocent women and children alive, but failed as Abdullah himself detonated the explosives killing his family members and accomplices,” the RAB top official said.
Benazir said Abdullah joined Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) in 2005 and later joined the Neo-JMB’s Sarwar-Tamim group in 2012. He provided shelter and financial help to the top leaders of Neo-JMB, Benazir added.
The operation resumed at 9:30am with bomb disposal units, dog squads and the assistance of Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defence, after overnight massive explosions and exchange of gunfire, said Mufti Mahmud Khan, Director of the Legal and Media Wing of the elite force.
The militants carried out three massive explosions inside the building around 9:45pm followed by three more blasts which led to a fire, leaving four RAB men injured with splinters, he said.
The building owned by Habibullah Bahar Azad has five flats on its each floor. He lives on the 2nd floor, according to the RAB spokesman.
Law enforcers earlier claimed that the suspected militant, Abdullah, son of late Mir Yusuf Ali, agreed to surrender along with his two wives, two children and two associates, he said.
The operation will be resumed today (Thursday) morning, he further said.
Inspector General of Police (IGP) AKM Shahidul Hoque visited the spot in the morning.
RAB Additional Deputy General (Operations) Colonel Anwar Latif said that 12 fire fighting units rushed to the spot after a fire broke out in the hideout after the militants commenced a daring counterattack with bomb explosions and gunfire against the law enforcers on Tuesday night.
“We allowed the residents of the building to return home after verification. They were kept at Darus Salam High School on Tuesday,” he said.
The house owner Habibullah Bahar Azad and Abdullah’s sister were in their custody.
Tipped off, a RAB team cordoned off the six-storey building on the south side of Martyred Intellectuals’ Graveyard at 12:15 am on Tuesday.
Security forces sealed the six-storey building and evacuated residents of 23 out of the 24 apartments before cutting off utility supplies on Tuesday morning.
Earlier, police arrested two suspected militants conducting a drive in Tangail district and got information about Abdullah from the arrestees.
