Before capturing Salahuddin, the Rab also arrested JMB Chittagong divisional commander Mizanur Rahman Shaon at a den where the Chittagong leaders of the banned militant outfit were scheduled to meet at a policymaking meeting, sources said.

Salahuddin alias Salehin, who was tasked with supervising JMB activities in Sylhet-Mymensingh region, was planning to initiate another round of militant attacks and had Tk 40,000 with him to distribute among his men for arranging the attacks, according to Rab.

Rab officials said they began operation in Noakhali and Chittagong five days ago and also arrested three JMB ehsars (full-time members)--Shah Alam alias Abdullah, Arman alias Faruq and Nurul Amin alias Nabil alias Mintoo.

Sources said Saifullah alias Faruq Hossain, JMB authority for Rangpur-Dinajpur region, was arrested with his family members and a JMB ehsar (full-time member) at a rented house in Konapara following information squeezed out from Salahuddin.

The investigators later produced Saifullah before the chief metropolitan magistrate's court in Dhaka with prayers to produce him before a Jhalakathi court in the two judges murder case today. The court granted the prayer.

Saifullah and Salahuddin, the last two JMB Shura members who had been escaping the dragnet so far, had bounties of Tk 10 lakh each on their heads. The government on December 19 also announced Tk 2 lakh bounty on each suicide squad member and Tk 1 lakh for each ehsar.

CAPTURE OF SAIFULLAH
Tipped off that Saifullah has been residing with his family in Konapara, a Rab team surrounded an area of six square kilometres at 10:00pm on Tuesday and searched each house.

Besides asking people about a couple with three daughters, the Rab men also showed Saifullah's photograph to the locals and inquired about his whereabouts.

The law enforcers became certain about Saifullah's hideout around 1:00am, said a Rab press release. The Rab members knocked at the door of a three-storey building but landlord Hafez Mohammad Ullah did not respond, said the Rab release.

Later, Mohammad's son Atual Haq came out and seeing Saifullah's photograph confirmed the Rab men that the militant leader resides on the ground floor of their house.

Ataul said Saifullah rented the house four months ago at Tk 2,400 a month introducing himself as a share businessman. "He came at first and his family joined him later," he said.

The Rab surrounded the house immediately and started talking with Saifullah who did not come out at first. Following assurance of security, the militant leader along with his wife Taslima Begum, his three daughters Farzana, Faria and Fatema, and JMB ehsar Selim at last gave in and came out around two hours later at 5:30am.

The Rab men recovered a computer, some CDs and books on jihad from the house.

The Rab also arrested the landlord.

The Rab men later took Saifullah to Rab-1 office at Uttara in Dhaka.

Detective Branch (DB) of police accompanied by Rab members later produced Saifullah before the court of Metropolitan Magistrate Mamun Al Rashid at 4:30pm yesterday.

DB Inspector Hasan Ali, also the investigation officer of the case filed for August 17 bomb blast in the New Market area, mentioned in the forwarding report that Saifullah was directly involved in August 17 countrywide bomb blasts, including that near the New Market.

He said Saifullah needed to be shown arrested and confined in jail custody until the investigation ends.

He submitted another petition seeking permission for producing Saifullah, who is also a charge-sheeted accused in the two judges murder case, before Jhalakathi District and Sessions Judge's Court where the trial is pending.

The court granted the petition.

OPERATION PAHARTOLI
Acting on a tip-off from arrested JMB ehsar Mahmud, a team of Rab-7 (Chittagong) raided a two-storey house near Choumuhani Degree College at Maizdi in Noakhali and arrested JMB ehsar Arman and his wife Nilufar during their four-day hunt in the area.

The Rab had arrested Mahmud on April 20.

At a briefing yesterday, Rab officials said they arrested Mintoo in Chittagong and Abdullah, operation commander of Noakhali, in Chatkhil area, reports our Chittagong correspondent.

Acting on their confession, the Rab later arrested Abdul Malek, father of Shaon, in Khetlal of Joypurhat and took him to the Chittagong Rab office.

With Malek, the Rab team raided Shaon's Colonel Hat residence and arrested Shaon and his wife Shaila Shanta. The law enforcers later released Malek.

The Rab did not disclose the date and time of the captures.

During an extensive interrogation on the whereabouts of Salahuddin, Shaon told Rab men Tuesday morning that Salahuddin would come to his residence at noon with Tk 40,000.

Rab's Senior ASP Osman Gani and Mashiur Rahman went to the residence in disguise and asked Shaon to call Salahuddin to come.

Around 5:00pm, Salahuddin went there and rang the doorbell. Rab-7 Commander Lt Col Hasinur Rahman, who was inside the house, opened the door. Osman tried to capture Salahuddin, but the militant managed to flee.

The Rab officials later chased him about a kilometre and caught him.

The Rab men seized a CD and a mobile phone set without SIM card from Shaon's house.

The arrestees were taken to Rab-7 headquarters in Patenga in the morning.

Having kept the whole operation secret all along, the Rab disclosed it at 11:00am yesterday.

Rab officials did not let journalists talk with the JMB men although allowed photographers to take snaps.

Osman Gani and his fellow officers obstructed journalists from talking to Salahuddin or others. Gani later briefed the journalists.

Rab sources said Salahuddin, Shaon and Mintoo will be sent to Pahartoli Police Station for the next course of legal procedures.

Our Noakhali correspondent reports: A team of Rab-7 handed over Faruq and his wife Nilufar, Abdullah and Shaila Shanta to Sudharam Police Station in Noakhali yesterday afternoon.

The four were shown arrested in an August 17 bomb blast case filed in Noakhali. Sudharam police will produce them before the court today with remand prayer.

JUDGES MURDER PROCEEDINGS POSTPONED
Examination of witnesses in the Jhalakathi judges murder case was postponed for a day following Saifullah's arrest in Dhaka, reports our Barisal correspondent.

The court fixed today for examination of five of the 53 witnesses in the case.

Meantime, Jhalakathi District Shilpakala Academy has been declared sub-jail for accommodating top JMB leaders.

JMB chief Abdur Rahman, Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai and Ataur Rahman Sunny were brought to Jhalakathi Tuesday afternoon.

The Shilpakala Academy was recently renovated with facilities, including air-conditioning, at a cost of Tk 2 core and officially declared sub-jail for the trial.

How and when they were held With the arrests of Salahuddin and Khaled Saifullah in Chittagong and Dhaka Tuesday evening and yesterday, all the seven members of Majlish-e-Shura, top decision-making body of Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh