Army commandos join drive at Sylhet ‘militant den’
- Army’s Para commandoes join drive
- SWAT reaches “militant den”
- Power lines cut, civilians partially evacuated
- ‘More than 2 militants in the flat’
- Cops tell militants to surrender
Joint forces are preparing to begin an operation at a suspected den of banned militant outfit Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) at a house in Shibbari area of Sylhet city.
Members of Para Commando Battalion of Bangladesh Army joined the drive at the five-storey building “Achhia Villa” at Pathanpara around 8:05, Sylhet Metropolitan Police Commissioner Golam Kibria.
Earlier in the afternoon, several units of Special Weapon and Tactic Team (SWAT) reached the spot, reports our correspondent from the spot.
The law enforcers have cordoned off the building since the wee hours of today suspecting that two militants were hiding there.
Earlier, police, through a loud speaker, asked the suspected militants to surrender, the SMP commissioner said. “But, they are yet to respond to the call.”
“We believe it is a den of some top JMB militants,” Jedan Al Musa, additional deputy commissioner of SMP, told our Moulvibazar correspondent this morning.
Power lines to the building have been cut and civilians partially evacuated from the building earlier in the day. “About 70 civilians have been moved out. Power line has been cut,” said SMP Deputy Commissioner Basudeb Banik.
Several gunshots and explosions were heard from the spot around noon, our correspondent reports from the spot.
Owner of the house, one Ustar Mia, said the centre of attention was the ground floor flat where a couple – Kawsar Ahmed and Morjina Begum – were living since the last three months.
‘They rented the ground floor flat 3 months ago’
The building “Achhia Villa” is owned by one Ustar Mia, proprietor of Atia Travels.
Kawsar Rahman Ripon, son of the landlord, said: “They identified themselves as husband and wife and rented the ground floor flat three months ago.”
Ustar Mia said the couple said their names were Kawsar Ahmed and Morjina.
Sylhet city police’s Additional Police Commissioner Rokonuddin told reporters that they sensed an anomaly in the tenant information of Ustar Mia’s house.
“We then began searching and verified some other information before today’s raid,” he said.
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