5 ‘members of Neo-JMB cell’ arrested

They planned to draw the attention of the Islamic State by carrying out several explosive attacks ahead of the Eid-ul-Adha.

The IS-inspired militant outfit Neo-JMB formed a 10-member cell three months ago and plotted four bomb attacks in three districts, including one at Hazrat Shahjalal shrine in Sylhet.

They even developed a manual for making an Improvised Explosive Device (IED).

This time only one member was supposed to take part in a single attack.

But all the plans were foiled due to increased vigilance of the Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit.

CTTC chief Monirul Islam yesterday came up with these remarks following the arrests of five members of the Neo JMB cell in the previous two days.

The arrests were made during a two-day-long special operation called "Elegant Bite" in Sylhet, he said while addressing a briefing at DMP media and community centre.

The arrestees are: Sheikh Sultan Mohammad Naimuzzaman, cell's reporting boss, Sayem Mirza, Rubel Ahmed, Abdur Rahim Juwel and Sanaul Islam Sadiq.

The CTTC also recovered two IEDs, bomb-making equipment, a laptop and cell phones from their possession.

They were brought to Dhaka and placed before a Dhaka court yesterday with a 10-day remand prayer. The court, however, granted seven days of remand for each of them.

CTTC officials said the militants rented a house in Shaplabagh area of Sylhet city two months ago by identifying themselves as various professionals.

Of the arrestees, Naimuzzaman, a graduate of political science from Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST), worked at a coffee shop, Sanaul is a student of statistics at SUST, Rubel used to run a small shop of fertilizer, while Juwel and Sayem identified themselves as drivers.

They planned to carry out their first attack at Shahjalal shrine on July 23, but it was foiled due to law enforcers' vigilance.

They left an IED in Paltan area which later exploded but no one got hurt from it, said Monirul.

On July 25, the cell members again kept a fake IED with a motorbike of a police sergeant in the capital's Gulistan just to spread fear among police officials, he said, adding finally, on July 31, the cell members blasted a small crude bomb at a temple in Naogaon but no one got hurt.

Monirul said Neo-JMB has no capacity to conduct any big attacks now. So they tried to carry out some small attacks.

But, we need to be remain alert as some serious attacks, including the August 17 series bomb attack and August 21 grenade attack, took place in this month.