Staff Reporter :
The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) detained four ‘accomplices’ of JMB suicide bomber Abdullah from the city’s Mirpur on Monday night on charges of planning to ‘sabotage a plane’.
Among the detainees are Sabbir Amam, a Biman Bangladesh Co-pilot (first officer). Amam was removed from active duty after authorities discovered the hideout in September. Amam and the three others were detained in a raid in Mirpur on Monday night. They are Sultana Parvin, wife of the flat owner where Abdullah stayed, Parvin’ cousin Asifur Rahman and Alam, said RAB Legal Media Wing Director Mufti Mahmud Khan.
“The four detainees are accomplices of Darussalam JMB suicide bomber Abdullah,” said RAB-4 Commander Md Lutfur Kabir.
He said that Sabbir was a member of the Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and an associate of slain militant Abdullah, adding “They were planning to sabotage a plane”.
In a query, an official of Biman’s public relations department told the media that Captain Sabbir earlier refused to fly after the anti-militancy raid into a building in Mirpur’s Mazar Road in September this year.
Sabbir formally appealed to the director of flight operations not to allow him to fly considering his “mental state” as “his father was arrested in the raid,” he said.
His appeal was approved by the authorities.
On September 5, RAB raided the hideout in Mirpur’s Darussalam. Abdullah, his two wives, two sons and two accomplices had been living on the fifth floor of the building. Habibullah Bahar Azad was arrested on September 7 during an 88-hour long operation in the building.
Meanwhile, another team of RAB arrested three JMB members from city’s Rampura area on Tuesday afternoon. They are Monirul Islam alias Hafej Monir, 32, Al Amin, 30, and Mohsin Talukdar alias Mintu, 48, said RAB-11 ASP Shakil Ahmed.
