Rakib held in Tangail

Former JMB majlish-e-shura member Hazez Mahmud alias Rakib Hasan Russell. File photo

Condemned militant Rakib Hasan Russell, one of the three Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) men snatched from police, was captured in Tangail this afternoon around five hours after the incident.

The law enforcers seized him from Taktarchala in Tangail during a combing operation around 2:00pm, Tangail Additional Superintendent of Police Hasibul Alam told The Daily Star.  

The police official said Rakib confessed that the snatching was planned 15 days ago and two microbuses were bought to execute the plan.

He added a total of three vehicles including the two were engaged in the snatching.

Police arrested Rakib by setting up a check post as he was fleeing in a CNG-run auto-rickshaw after their microbus crashed into another three-wheeler, said Hasibul.

In a filmy style, a large group of miscreants intercepted a prison van, opened fire on police, killing a constable, and snatched away three including two death row activists of the banned militant outfit in Trishal upazila of Mymensingh.

The snatched condemned convicts are: Salahuddin alias Salehin, JMB in-charge of Sylhet-Mymensingh region; Mohammad Rakib Hasan Russell alias Hafez Mahmud, Khulna divisional commander of JMB; and Jahidul Islam alias 'Boma' Mizan, an explosives expert of the outlawed group.

The deceased policeman, Atiqul Islam, was posted at Gazipur Police Station, reports our Mymensingh correspondent quoting local police control room.

The three JMB activists were scheduled to be produced before a court in Mymensingh in connection with a sedition case filed on March 11, 2006.