Staff Reporter :
Four suspected militants were killed in explosions during the 33-hour ‘Operation Eagle Hunt’ at the militant hideout in Shibnagar area of Chapainawabganj district on Thursday evening.
The bodies of the militants will be recovered from the militant den today (Friday) morning and likely to be sent to Sadar Hospital morgue for autopsy.
Intelligence sources said, the cop personnel rescued Sumaiya Begum, 35, wife of suspected militant Rafiqul Islam alias Abu who was killed in explosions, and his six-year old daughter Suraiya Islam alias Majida around 5:00pm and 5:23pm respectively. They were taken to the District Sadar Hospital by two separate ambulances under police custody.
The members of law enforcing agencies led by of Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) ended their 33-hour anti-militant operation around 6:00pm, M Khurshid Hossain, Deputy Inspector General (Rajshahi Range) of Police told reporters yesterday evening.
Abu, his wife and two children were staying in the house free of cost since February. Two other people may have joined with them recently, the police official said.
The SWAT launched the ‘Operation Eagle Hunt’ around 9:00am on Wednesday which was ended at 6:00pm on Thursday as the law enforcers found four bodies after entering the house in Shibanagar village of Mubarakpur Union in Shibganj upazila of the district, the DIG said.
During the operation, a huge blast and sporadic gunshots were heard from about 500 yards away from the den and the sound of explosion did not come out since 4:30pm as soon as law enforcers brought out Sumaiya and her daughter in the afternoon, he said.
“The four militants, including Abu, killed themselves with their explosives. All four are reportedly men. Abu’s wife Sumaiya Hossain and their daughter is currently in police custody,” the DIG claimed, adding the identity of three other militants could not be known immediately.
We believe the four killed include mid-level leaders of “Neo JMB,” a terrorist group police claim was responsible for last year’s deadly Gulshan attack, the DIG said.
The Crime Scene Unit and Bomb Disposal Unit of Police visited the den in the evening, he said.
Proloy Kumar Joarder, Deputy Commissioner of CTTC, said that the militants threw grenades and shot at law enforcement officials whenever they attempted to approach the building.
Police on Wednesday suspended the raid on the one-storey house due to darkness, the DC said.
Heavy sounds of gunshots and explosions were heard near the house till the last evening but no law enforcers were hurt, he claimed.
Law enforcers cordoned off a suspected militant hideout in Shibnagar village early Wednesday, said Chapainawabganj Superintendent of Police TA Mojahiudul Islam. “We will file different cases in this connection,” he said.
Assistant Superintendent (Gomostapur Circle) of Police Mainul Islam said that tipped off, police encircled the suspected militant hideout around 5:30am on Wednesday.
Quoting locals, Habibur Rahman, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Shibganj Police Station, claimed Abu alongwith his family rented the house two and half months ago introducing him as a spice vendor.
The owner of the house, Saidur Rahman, 75, rented it to one Abu free of cost, the police official said.
