Neo JMB leader killed in gunfight with cops
A suspected top leader of “Neo JMB” and another key operative of the organisation were killed in a “gunfight” with police in Bogra's Sherpur upazila yesterday.
The deceased militants were identified as Khaled Hasan, 30, alias Badar Mama, and Ripon, 29, alias Golam Tareque alias Abu Ibrahim.
They were allegedly involved in several militant attacks in the country's northern region last year.
Khaled, a military commander of the northern region, masterminded the attack on Italian physician Piero Parolari, the bomb attack at Kantaji Mandir, the attack on Iskcon temple and looting of a petrol pump in Dinajpur in November and December last year, said Gaziur Rahman, senior assistant superintendent of police in Bogra.
Moreover, Khaled, Nazrul Islam alias Bike Hasan, Jahangir Alam alias Rajib Gandi and Khairul Islam Badhon, one of the Gulshan café attackers, had a meeting at Ripon's house in Rajshahi's Boalia, where they plotted to kill Rajshahi University Prof AFM Rezaul Karim Siddiquee, police said.
Apart from Jahangir, 27, all three were killed either in police raids or in “crossfire”.
THE “GUNFIGHT”
On information that some militants gathered at Noluabari intersection in Bishapul union to carry out subversive activities, a police team rushed to the spot around 3:30am, said Sherpur Police Station's Officer-in-Charge Khan Md Erfan.
As soon as the team reached there, the militants opened fire on them. Police also fired back in retaliation, he said.
Khaled and Ripon were injured in the gun battle. A foreign-made pistol, four bullets, two homemade bombs, bomb-making materials and a knife were also recovered from the spot, the OC added.
The two were taken to Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College and Hospital, where doctors declared them dead, said the police official.
Two constables -- Babul Akhtar and Abdul Mottalleb -- suffered injuries in the incident. They were taken to Bogra Police Lines Hospital.
KHALED
Khaled was the son of Enamul Haque of Hamidpur village in Chapainawabganj's Nachole upazila.
He passed Alim (HSC equivalent) from Chapainawabganj and got enrolled in Dinajpur Paramedical College. But he did not complete his studies there, said a police official.
Bazlur Rashid, a sub-inspector of Detective Branch of police in Dinajpur, said Khaled planned the attacks and supplied arms and explosives to the JMB men who took part in the three attacks.
Ripon's name appeared in the charge sheet of the cases along with 17 Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh men.
RIPON
Ripon was the “chief of Ansar Rajshahi”, a splinter group of JMB in the district. The group was planning to kill Hindu homeopath doctor Nirendronath Sarker of Bagmara upazila, police said.
He was coordinating the attack on the doctor through Threema apps. Law enforcers came to know about his involvement after checking the mobile phones of two of his accomplices -- Aminul Islam Rumi and Enamul Haque Sabuj -- who were arrested in Bagmara on August 16, police claimed.
The group had six members, including Shariful Islam, a third-year student of English department at Rajshahi University and the prime suspect in the murder case of Prof Siddiquee, Rawshan Ali alias Akash of Pabna and Bulbul alias Al Amin alias Billal of Rajshahi.
Ripon, son of late Golam Sabur Badal of Panthanpar in Bagmara, had been missing since May 19, his sister Samina Ferdous told The Daily Star yesterday.
After passing Higher Secondary Examination from Rajshahi University School five to six years ago, he started working at a sanitary shop in Rajshahi city's Malopara.
Ripon had left the job three months before he went missing.
The family filed a missing diary with Boalia Police Station on May 19 and gave police Ripon's photo on July 22, said Samina.
Detective Branch of Rajshahi Metropolitan Police yesterday picked up Samina, her husband Hafijul Islam, uncle Abdus Salam and Salam's son Milu for interrogation, said RMP Inspector Rezaus Sadik.
[Our Bogra, Rajshahi and Dinajpur correspondents contributed to the report.]
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