Photo : Collected
After ending a six-hour raid spreading panic among locals over the presence of a terrorist hideout, the Anti-Terrorism Unit (ATU) of police finally recovered three crude bombs from the flat of a four-storey building in Borpa area of Rupganj upazila of Narayanganj on Tuesday (2 June).
Later, the bombs were neutralized in an open space in front of the house in the afternoon but no one could be arrested in this connection.
Earlier the ATU members cordoned off the building at 10:30am.
ATU Superintendent of Police Mohammad Sanowar Hossain said that the building was owned by Saudi Arabia expatriate Zakir Hossain.
After cordoning off the house, they conducted the raid in the flat on the third-floor, suspected to be used by members of the banned militant organization Ansar al-Islam, he said.
While addressing journalists after the raid, Sanowar mentioned a previous raid on June 8 and 9 in Netrokona, where another militant hideout was discovered. The recent arrest of a female militant in Cox’s Bazar on Monday provided crucial information leading to the identification of the Rupganj hideout.
He said that intelligence suggested the presence of an individual skilled in bomb-making in the flat. Precautionary measures were taken to evacuate all residents and disconnect gas and electricity supplies to ensure safety.
Mohammad Shahnewaz, a tenant who has been residing with his family on the ground floor of the building over the past three years, said the building owner’s family does not reside there. The third-floor apartment had new tenants, a family of four, who moved in three months ago.
Shahnewaz noted that the flat had been locked for the past three days and he had not observed any suspicious activity previously.
The ATU’s Superintendent of Police (Media and Awareness Wing) Mahfuzul Alam Russell said that they conducted the raid after information gleaned from an arrested female militant.
Messenger/Sumon
