'JMB man' held, explosives seized in Natore

Police arrested a suspected JMB operative and recovered arms and bomb-making materials from his Pabnapara home in Natore last night.

The arrestee, Fazlur Rahman Taher, alias Raj, is a mobile phone and TV mechanic. The 23-year-old had a plan to carry out subversive activities at the Biswa Ijtema ground in Tongi on the outskirts of the capital, said law enforcers.

Cops claimed to have recovered four pistols, six magazines, 17 bullets, six knives, six straight razors and some bomb-making materials from the house.

At least 50 bombs could have been made with those materials, said police.

Acting on a tip-off, a special team of Bogra police raided the house around 9:00pm, arrested Fazlur and recovered the arms and bomb-making materials, said M Khurshid Hossain, deputy inspector general (Rajshahi range) of police.

The house was under surveillance since yesterday morning. Sensing the presence of police, the arrestee tried to flee, but in vain, he added.