2 Neo JMB men on remand

A court here yesterday placed two Neo Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) militants on a three-day remand in connection with the Shibnagar raid on April 26.

Senior Judicial Magistrate Shahidul Islam passed the order after Sohel Mahfuz, an explosives expert and the bomb supplier of last year's Holey Artisan café attack at Gulshan in the capital, and slain JMB man Abu's wife Sumaiya Begum, were produced before the court.

Shibganj Police Station Officer-in-Charge Habibul Islam, also the investigation officer, sought a seven-day remand.

Earlier, Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit under Dhaka Metropolitan Police, jointly with Chapainawabganj and Bogra police, conducted a raid at a mango orchard in Pushkuni village of Shaibganj on July 8 and arrested Sohel along with his accomplices Jamal, Hafijur and Jewel.

Sohel, one of the prime accused of Dhaka café attack, was handed over to the CTTC unit.

The law enforcers conducted an operation codenamed “Eagle Hunt” after cordoning off a house at Shibnagar on April 26.

They entered the hideout next day and found four bodies, including that of Rafiqul Islam alias Abu, an operative of Neo JMB. They brought out Sumaiya and her six-year-old daughter Khadiza alive. Sohel and Sumaiya were accused in the Shibnagar incident case.

Sohel, who played a key role in organising the JMB in Bangladesh and India's West Bengal, was most wanted in both the countries. He is one of the prime accused in the 2014 Burdwan blast case.

Earlier, Sohel was placed on 19 days' remand in phases in connection with Gulshan attack and Kalyanpur raid.