The house located in Patartek area of Gazipur, where seven militants were killed in a drive Saturday, had been used as a training centre and shelter house for the members of militant group New JMB, police said yesterday
Unless the den was busted by a team of police’s Counter-Terrorism and Transnational crime (CTTC) unit, law enforcers say, those trained militants might have launched fresh attacks on their targets in the near future.
“Members of the outfit used to stay here after completing training until they were assigned to carry out an operation,” a high official of CTTC, who took part in the drive, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
The official said that New JMB basically chooses easy targets which come under their agenda, but their key target is to attack the foreigners.
Of the seven militants killed, the law enforcers primarily identified four – Faridul Islam alias Akash alias Pravat, the gang leader; Hafez Sanaullah alias Sanwar, 22; Ibrahim, 19; and Mechanic (organisational name).
Ibrahim, the son of Azimuddin from Bongshal in Dhaka, had been missing since August 8. His family filed a general diary with Bongshal police on August 9.
On the other hand, Sanaullah is the son of Abu Sama from Gaibandha. The law enforcers did not get any information regarding Mechanic and three others.
Sanowar Hossain, additional deputy commissioner of CTTC unit, told the Dhaka Tribune that they were analysing information coming from across the country about the dead militants. “We are trying to match the information with the National Identity Card database using their fingerprints.”
According to the investigators, most wanted Akash was a top leader of the New JMB, the Bangladeshi affiliate of Syria-based Islamic State. His whole family is involved with militant activities.
Hailing from west Baraitali village under Gandhail Union at Kazipur of Sirajganj, Akash completed diploma engineering in computer science from Sirajganj Polytechnic Institute last year. His mother, three sisters and two brothers were arrested by the police on September 5, but the father, Abu Sayed, remains fugitive.
According to the CTTC officials, Akash was one of the close aides of New JMB military and operational chief Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury, also known as Abu Dujanah al-Bengali. After the death of Tamim in Narayanganj raid on August 27, Akash got the charge of operational activities.
Earlier, two other close associates of Tamim Chowdhury were killed in police raids.
CTTC’s Sanowar said that absconding New JMB leader Nurul Islam Marjan or Basharuzzaman might get the opportunity to head the operations wing as the duo were Tamim’s favourites.
With the death of 11 militants on Saturday, New JMB has lost at least 42 of its members in crackdown by law enforcers since November last year while two others died at their own hands – one during a suicide operation and the other committed suicide to evade arrest.
Moreover, a key financier of the group, Abdur Rahman, died at a hospital in Savar the same day. He was injured as he jumped off a five-storey building to evade arrest during a raid by RAB at his house in Ashulia area.
Meanwhile, Joydebpur police said that the seven bodies were kept at Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmed Medical College Hospital for autopsy. Later the bodies would be sent to Dhaka Medical College morgue for long preservation, our Gazipur correspondent reports.
No case was filed regarding the raid until filling of this report last night.
Khandakar Rezaul Hasan Reza, OC of Joydebpur police, said that they would send the bodies to Dhaka for DNA tests. “We are still working to identify all the militants,” he added.
Source: Dhaka Tribune
