Four suspected militants of Neo JMB was killed in an overnight raid of joint forces in a militant hideout in Chittagong’s Sitakunda.
The drive “Assault 16” was jointly carried out by Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit, SWAT, Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) – 7, and Chittagong district police.
Four hours after the renewed drive, Chittagong range Deputy I
nspector General of Police Shafiqul Islam said that “Assault 16” had ended and that four militants were killed.
Though the two-storied building in Premtala was secured, live bombs were still inside the flat.
Twenty members of seven families, who were trapped inside the building during the raid, were taken to safety before the final assault began around 6:00am on Thursday.
Among the injured were two policemen, a member of Special Weapon and Tactic Team (SWAT) team, and a fire fighter, according to DIG Shafiqul Islam.
Police say that a member of the police team has been injured by the grenade attack of the suspected ‘Neo JMB’ gang.
Mahabubur Rahman, assistant superintendent of police (Mirsarai circle), said acting on the confessional statements of two suspected militants— Hasan, 30, and Jasim, 32,– arrested from Chandina upazila in Comilla while hurling bombs at police, a team of Sitakunda police raided a house owned by Suresh Biswas in Madhyam Mahadebpur village in the upazila in the afternoon.
Sensing the presence of law enforcers, the militants hurled explosive devices at the police, prompting them to take action.
Later, the police team entered the house and took into custody a man, a woman and a child.
They also recovered a number of grenades, bombs and firearms from the house.
Besides, the same team raided another house believed to be a militant hideout in Premtala area, one kilometer away from the Mahadebpur house in the upazila, and surrounded it, said Additional superintendent of police, Rezaur Rahman.
When police tried to enter, suspected militants hurled crude explosives at police on their arrival.
When inmates of ‘Chaya Nir” lobbed grenades injuring a policeman, the law enforcers encircled the house to ensure no one could escape from there.
Intermittent exchange of fire between the police-RAB contigent and the inmates of the house were reported on several occassions throughout the night.
Police said some families were stuck in ‘Chaya Nir” along with the terrorists but they were still not clear about numbers.
Earlier, a couple was arrested from a suspected militant hideout at Chittagong’s Sitakunda after which police and SWAT personnel cordoned off ‘Chaya Nir” .
Local police raided the ground floor of a two-storey house, ‘Sadhan Kutir’, at Amirabad of Namar Bazar Ward around 3pm on Wednesday after receiving a tip-off from the building’s owner.
A couple, ‘Jashim’ and ‘Arjina’, were arrested from there with weapons, police said.
Source: The Daily Ittefaq