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Download PDF The Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) recovered a powerful bomb, 10 improvised grenades, and huge bomb-making materials from a mess in the city’s Mirpur area early yesterday and arrested four suspected JMB operatives.
An explosives expert of the elite crime busters said the bomb weighing 10 kg could cause huge casualties within a 25-metre radius of the site.
It could be detonated in two ways. It can go off three seconds after its pin is pulled out or explode after some pressure is exerted onto it, added the official wishing not to be named.
The arrestees–Ishaq Sheikh of Gopalganj, Mohammad Anis of Bogra, Rafiqul Islam of Jamalpur and Khalilur Rahman of Rangpur–have been working at two garment factories in Mirpur.
During primary interrogations, Ishaq and Anis admitted to having involvement in the Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh while the other denied having any links to the outfit.
A top intelligence official said the condition in which the grenades and the bomb were recovered suggests that the militants were preparing for attacks.
The other items seized include three books on jihad, a soldering iron (tatal), a coil of soldering lead, a drill machine, four pressure switches, two capacitors and some batteries.
Rab Intelligence Wing Director Asif Ahmed Ansary at a press briefing at the Rab headquarters yesterday said that following up intelligence reports that the JMB operatives have regrouped in a number of messes in and around the capital they launched a drive on August 1. With the help of Rab-11, they spotted a militants’ den at Block C in Mirpur-12 Wednesday night.
They busted the mess at house No. 8, lane No. 21 at around 2:00am and arrested the four JMB members. Carrying out a thorough search, they also recovered the huge cache of explosives.
Ishaq and Anis claimed that a fellow JMB cadre named Jitu had kept the explosives there a few days back. He [Jitu] used to come and preach about jihad and its objectives.
“He used to remind us that if necessary we will have to die for the cause,” a bearded Ishaq told The Daily Star during the press briefing where all the four were paraded in front of TV cameras and journalists.
He said Jitu is clean-shaven and he wears pants and shirt to cover his identity.
Earlier on July 11, the Rab arrested a member of Majlish-e-Shura, the highest decision-making body of JMB, at his rented house in Mirpur-1.
During the raid, they seized two 9mm pistols with nine bullets, seven computers, a large number of CDs and books on jihad.
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