Staff Reporter :
A Dhaka University (DU) student and four other madrasah students surrendered to the elite force from a house, which was cordoned off by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) suspecting presence of militants in hideout, at Gabtoli village in Narsingdi Sadar upazila on Sunday morning.
Though it was alleged that some of the detainees had fled from the Sylhet’s Atia Mahal den, their relatives claimed that the youths were not involved with militancy.
The surrendered students are Masudur Rahman, Abu Jafar, Mashiur Rahman, Bashirul Islam and Salah Uddin. Among them, Salah Uddin is a student of Social Science Department of Dhaka University. RAB suspected that he maintained connection with the Sylhet’s Atia Mahal militancy.
The raid started around 10:15am and lasted for 20 minutes only. At that time, the five youths, who were inside the house, surrendered to the RAB.
Director (media wing) of RAB Headquarters Mufti Mahmud Khan at 11:00am declared the operation officially closed without any casualty.
“We have tried our best to convince them to surrender through their relatives. and finally got the result,” the RAB official said.
Asked if anything was found inside the building, Mufti Mahmud said, “The bomb disposal unit will move in there soon for search. We will inform the media if we find anything.”
RAB requested the family members of the five suspected militants to identify them, said Mufti Mahmud.
RAB-11 Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel Kamrul Hasan said they cordoned off the building on Saturday evening, suspecting the presence of a few militants there.
However, those inside the building claimed that they were not militants when media personnel questioned.
Azar Bin Mahfuz, who claimed to be the brother-in-law of one of those in the building, spoke to reporters after rushing to the scene upon hearing news of the raid.
He said that those inside the building were madrasah students, not militants, and provided the contact number of his brother-in-law Masudur Rahman.
When contacted, Masudur told The New Nation that he was in the building with four others.
Masudur claimed that none of them was militant and all of them had gone to the building to receive tuition from Abu Zafar.
According to the locals, three students rented the house, owned by one Moin Ahmed, a United Arab Emirate expatriate, last month.
He added that the doors and windows of the building were unlocked, but law enforcement officials were not allowing them to leave. He also denied having been asked to surrender by the officials.
“One Salah Uddin rented the ground floor by introducing himself as a madrasah student one month ago. Five more people were seen residing with him in the house,” said Nurul Islam, owner of a local shop.
Earlier, members of law enforcement agencies cordoned off a house at Gabtoli village on Saturday afternoon suspecting presence of militants there.
A Dhaka University (DU) student and four other madrasah students surrendered to the elite force from a house, which was cordoned off by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) suspecting presence of militants in hideout, at Gabtoli village in Narsingdi Sadar upazila on Sunday morning.
Though it was alleged that some of the detainees had fled from the Sylhet’s Atia Mahal den, their relatives claimed that the youths were not involved with militancy.
The surrendered students are Masudur Rahman, Abu Jafar, Mashiur Rahman, Bashirul Islam and Salah Uddin. Among them, Salah Uddin is a student of Social Science Department of Dhaka University. RAB suspected that he maintained connection with the Sylhet’s Atia Mahal militancy.
The raid started around 10:15am and lasted for 20 minutes only. At that time, the five youths, who were inside the house, surrendered to the RAB.
Director (media wing) of RAB Headquarters Mufti Mahmud Khan at 11:00am declared the operation officially closed without any casualty.
“We have tried our best to convince them to surrender through their relatives. and finally got the result,” the RAB official said.
Asked if anything was found inside the building, Mufti Mahmud said, “The bomb disposal unit will move in there soon for search. We will inform the media if we find anything.”
RAB requested the family members of the five suspected militants to identify them, said Mufti Mahmud.
RAB-11 Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel Kamrul Hasan said they cordoned off the building on Saturday evening, suspecting the presence of a few militants there.
However, those inside the building claimed that they were not militants when media personnel questioned.
Azar Bin Mahfuz, who claimed to be the brother-in-law of one of those in the building, spoke to reporters after rushing to the scene upon hearing news of the raid.
He said that those inside the building were madrasah students, not militants, and provided the contact number of his brother-in-law Masudur Rahman.
When contacted, Masudur told The New Nation that he was in the building with four others.
Masudur claimed that none of them was militant and all of them had gone to the building to receive tuition from Abu Zafar.
According to the locals, three students rented the house, owned by one Moin Ahmed, a United Arab Emirate expatriate, last month.
He added that the doors and windows of the building were unlocked, but law enforcement officials were not allowing them to leave. He also denied having been asked to surrender by the officials.
“One Salah Uddin rented the ground floor by introducing himself as a madrasah student one month ago. Five more people were seen residing with him in the house,” said Nurul Islam, owner of a local shop.
Earlier, members of law enforcement agencies cordoned off a house at Gabtoli village on Saturday afternoon suspecting presence of militants there.
