Slain 'militant' Jahid's wife left Azimpur hideout four days before raid: Police

Police say the widow of suspected militant Jahidul Islam, killed last week in a police operation, is not among the three women injured and detained when they busted a militant hideout in Dhaka's Azimpur one day ago.

They had had initially suspected that former Bangladesh Army major Jahid's wife Jebunnahar was one of the three women caught.

The injured women are currently being treated at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).

After Saturday's raid, the inspector general of police had told reporters that the operation was conducted following a tip-off that Jahid's family were hiding in that house near BGB Headquarters' Gate-2.

DMP counter-terrorism unit's Additional Deputy Commissioner Md Sanwar Hossain on Sunday told bdnews24.com that Jebunnahar had left that Azimpur home four days ago along with a girl.

"She is not among the three women at the hospital. But she was in that home even four days ago."

An official related to the investigation said a 10-year old girl rescued from that house during the raid has admitted that she was Jahid's eldest daughter.

The child, along with another girl and a teenage boy found at the same place, is currently at police's Victim Support Centre.

"She said her mother had taken her younger sister along and gone into hiding. She said her mother left fearing that police will catch all of them if they stayed together," the Detective Branch official (DB) said.

Another DB official said one of the three women, identified as 'Khadiza' alias 'Honey', was the wife of suspected militant 'Jamshed', whose body was found at the Azimpur home during the raid.

The two other women had identified themselves as 'Sharmin' alias 'Ruhama' and 'Shaila' alias 'Afra'.

The official told bdnews24.com: "We think Sharmin is the wife of top Neo-JMB leader Marzan. Also, Shaila is the wife of another militant. We are trying to confirm their real identities."

Additional Deputy Commissioner Sanwar Hossain said Jamshed, a former private bank executive, had been working as the Neo-JMB coordinator after their leader Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury was killed in a raid in Narayanganj on Aug 27.
 
Tamim was the alleged mastermind of the July 1 attack that left 17 foreigners and five others dead on an upscale cafe in the capital's Gulshan.
 
"Jamshed followed Tamim's orders. He was also the one who selected places for Tamim to hide," Hossain said.
 
He said police had raided several places including Mirpur, Rupnagar and Bashundhara Residential Area to catch Jamshed.
 
On Sunday morning, Dhaka Metropolitan Police spokesperson Masudur Rahman told bdnews24.com that the 13-year old boy rescued from the Azimpur home had told them that the dead man was his father Jamshed, who hails from Rajshahi.
 
Quoting the chid, a DB official said the boy had a twin brother. The family also engaged him in Neo-JMB's activities.
 
Sanwar Hossain said they recovered four guns, around 50 bullets and Tk 300,000 from the home.
 
After Tamim's death in the Narayanganj raid, Jahid was killed during another police operation in Mirpur's Rupnagar on Sep 2.
 
Jahid, son of a former police inspector from Comilla, left the army job two years ago after returning from Canada.
 
Police said he was the second-in-command of Tamim and the military commander of the group.