In a daring terror strike on a prison van on Sunday, militants snatched three convicted members of the banned militant outfit Jama’at-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) in Trishal upazila of Mymensingh killing a cop, but one of them was captured hours later in Tangail.
Police and Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) members in a prompt combing operation arrested one of the snatched convicts, Rakib Hasan Russel, from Taktarchala village in Sakhipur upazila of Tangail around 2:30pm, said senior information officer at the Police Headquarters AKM Quamrul Ahsan.
Meanwhile, two of the snatchers were also held from Sakhipur.
The militants snatched the three convicts of the banned militant outfit from the prison van killing a policeman at Signboard in Trishal upazila in the morning.
Officer-in-charge of Trishal Police Station Feroz Talukder said the prison van came under attack around 10:15 as it was moving towards Mymensingh from Kashimpur Jail in Gazipur condemned JMB convicts Rakib and Salahuddin and lifer Boma Mizan.
Four policemen suffered bullet wounds in the attack and of them constable Atiqul Islam succumbed to his injuries, he said.
Later, police with the help of locals caught one of the snatchers, JMB man Zakaria, 30, of Rupganj upazila in Narayanganj, after a hot-chase on Trishal-Sagardighi road in front of Sakhipur Proshika Training Centre in Sakhipur around 11am while they were fleeing in a microbus, said Tangail SP Saleh M Tanvir.
However, other JMB members along with the convicts managed to vanish into the hilly areas of Sakhipur, leaving the vehicle behind.
Police recovered five crude bombs, one pistol, two bullets, four mobile phone sets and a rod-cutter from the vehicle.
Later, the joint forces comprising police and Rab arrested Rakib Hasan and another snatcher, Raihan, from Taktarchala village in the afternoon.
Meanwhile, two inquiry committees have been formed to look into the snatching of the three convicted JMB members.
The Home Ministry formed a four-member probe panel, headed by its Additional Secretary Nazimuddin Chowdhury while the Police Headquarters constituted the other three-man committee, led by Deputy Inspector General (Current Charge) of Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Syful Alam.
The committees have been asked to come up with their reports within three working days.
On the other hand, the Police Headquarters announced a Tk 2-lakh bounty on each of the two JMB convicts for information leading to their arrest.
Besides, members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) have been asked to remain alert so that the absconding JMB convicts cannot cross the border along Bangladesh and Myanmar, said BGB headquarters sources.
Source: UNBConnect
