8 'militants' held in 2 more drives
Joint forces in separate drives in isolated char (shoal) areas of Manikganj and Pabna yesterday detained eight suspected militants, a listed robber and seized several sharp weapons and jihadist propaganda materials.
The joint forces comprising police, Rapid Action Battalion (Rab), Armed Police Battalion (APBn) and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) have been raiding many of such chars -- isolated from the local populace and accessible only by boat -- on suspicion that these areas are being used by militants as their hideouts and training facilities.
In Manikganj, nearly 200 law enforcement personnel combed through all the chars on the Jamuna River under Baghutia, Char Katari, Bachamara and Jionpur unions of Daulatpur upazila and apprehended five suspects, reports our Manikganj correspondent.
Four of them are militant suspects -- Abul Bashar, 60, acting principal of Baghutia Alim Madrasa; Ishak Ali, 40, assistant teacher of Jafarganj Kazi Shafiuddin Dakhil Madrasa; Shah Alam, 45, a businessman from Baghutia; and Nazrul Islam, 40, from Amtoli village while the fifth one -- Tendul Sheikh, 50, of Jionpur village in the upazila -- is a listed robber on the loose, Manikganj Police Superintendent (SP) Mahfuzur Rahman told The Daily Star.
All the suspects have been placed under police custody for interrogation, said the SP.
The sharp weapons seized during the raid include 4 machetes, 1 sword and 1 knife while the jihadist propaganda materials include 12 books, 5 posters and 3 leaflets.
Manikganj SP Mahfuzur and Unu Mong, assistant SP of Rab, jointly led the operation that started at around 10:30am and concluded at around 4:30pm.
Meanwhile, in Pabna, the joint forces during their drives on Char Safullah, Char Nagdah, Char Shrekonthodiar and Char Kollanpur on the Jamuna River under Bera upazila yesterday apprehended four militant suspects.
The drive was launched at around 10:00 am and lasted till 4:00pm, reports our Pabna correspondent.
The detained suspects are Alam Hossain, 32, Md Sharif, 20, Manik Hossain, 38, of Haturia village and Alauddin, 20, of Char Nagdah, said Masud Rana, officer-in-charge (investigation) of Bera Police Station.
The detained individuals were being interrogated on suspicion of militancy, said Zakir Hossain, assistant superintendent of Police, Bera Circle.
ASP Zakir, who led the drive, said, “Suspected criminals might use the remote shoal areas as their hideouts as these areas are highly inaccessible. Despite this fact, our drives will go on and we will hunt them down.”
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