Commandos of Bangladesh Army return to their base after completion of an army raid on ‘Atia Mahal,’ an extremist den in Sylhet city, on Tuesday. — New Age photo
Army para commandos winded up their ‘Operation Twilight’ at a suspected den of extremists in Atia Mahal in Sylhet city on the fourth day on Tuesday with handing over the multi-storey building to the police.
On the fourth day of the operation, the army commandos defused some improvised explosive devices, but more explosives were still scattered in different rooms on each of the floors, said army spokesperson Brigadier General Fakhrul Ahsan at a briefing at Sylhet Shahjalal Cantonment Tuesday night.
‘Operation Twilight’ was declared closed through handing over ‘Atia Mahal’ as a crime scene to the police at about 4:30pm, said Fakhrul, also the director Military Intelligence at the army headquarters.
The para commandos launched the ‘Operation Twilight’ at about 1:30am on March 25 in the building at Pathanpara of Shibbari, which had been cordoned off by the police since early March 24.
Fakhrul said that they handed over to Jalalabad police station two bodies of suspected extremists – a male and a female – on Monday and two more bodies of suspected extremists on Tuesday after defusing the suicide vests from their bodies.
The main part of the operation was completed on Monday but more time was taken for the disposal and removal of improvised explosive devices and other explosives, he said.
He said that the den of extremists was detected based on information extracted by the police from suspects arrested during the March 15-16 anti-extremist operations at Sitakundu in Chittagong.
Asked how much improvised explosive devices and explosives the ‘extremists’ gathered at the den, Fakhrul said that they recovered 10 IEDs and more IEDs and explosives were still scattered in different rooms on all the floors of the building having 150 rooms in its 30 apartments.
Asked whether they had found any document in the rooms, he said that they were not tasked to do so and that they did what they needed to free the spot from extremists.
He said that the crime scene was handed over to the police who would do the next job.
Fakhrul said that the extremists kept a refrigerator and a motorcycle at the main entrance of the building by turning them into improvised explosive devices.
He said that they were not sure about the beliefs of the extremist who all were wearing suicide vests and said it required further investigation.
Sylhet Metropolitan Police deputy commissioner (south) Basudeb Banik told New Age that none of the four bodies could be identified them as their faces and bodies were charred.
He said that their identities would be confirmed through DNA tests.
Metropolitan police sources said that they had been collecting information about an extremist namely Musa, who was suspected to be the leader of a faction of banned extremist outfit Jammatul Mujahedeen Bangladesh, as they suspected that one of the deceased might be Musa.
They said that police primarily suspected that two of the four bodies of extremists, found at the hideout on Monday, were of Morjina and Kawser Ali.
A metropolitan police official said that two of the extremists rented the house introducing themselves as Morjina and Kawser. Morjina also submitted a copy of her ‘national identity card.’
The police are now verifying their identities.
Sylhet additional district magistrate Abu Mohammad Safayet said that one ‘missing’ Morjina’s father and elder brother from Naikhyangchari in Bandarban left the hill district at about 2:00pm on Tuesday for Sylhet.
Amid the disposal drive on Tuesday, local people heard the sounds of four explosions at about 2:00pm in the building and police said that disposal of explosive caused the sounds.
Drones were used during disposal of the explosives, said metropolitan police additional commissioner SM Rokanuzzaman.
Moglabazar police station sub-inspector Shiblu Chowdhury filed a case with the police station early Monday against unnamed people for Saturday’s blasts near Ata Mahal that left at least six people were killed and nearly 60 injured.
Rapid Action Battalion director intelligence Lieutenant Colonel Abul Kalam Azad, who sustained critical injuries in the head in the blasts, was moved to Singapore from Dhaka’s Combined Military Hospital Sunday evening by an air ambulance.
Rests of the injured were admitted to Sylhet district hospital and Osmani Medical College Hospital, the officials said.
Residents of Pathanpara, Gotatikar, Shibbari, Jainpur, Mominkhola and Musargaon said that the gas supply to their area remained suspended since March 24.
Local administration prohibited public gathering in about 3:00km span between Humayun Rashid Square and Pir Habibur Rahman Square on Sylhet-Fenchuganj Road and the prohibition was still on, police said.
Earlier Saturday morning, commandos stormed into the house climbing rooftop and rescued at least 78 civilians.
Source: New Age
