Police-JMB encounter in Bagerhat, 4 suspects caught

Police say they have detained four terror suspects in Bagerhat following a shootout with members of Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).

The encounter took place at the town’s Doratana Bridge area on Wednesday night, said Superintendent of Police (SP) Pankaj Chandra Roy.

Those detained were identified as Md Maksudur Rahman aka 'Tota' from Shatkhira’s Gorerkanda village, 24, Saiful Islam, 36, of Satkhira’s Itagacha village, Morshed Alam, 20 of Kadamtala Bazar area and Jahirul Islam, 22 of Raghunatpur village of Pirozpur district’s Nazirpur Upazila.

Police claim the four are members of banned militant group JMB.

“The JMB members were planning attacks on Awami League leaders and police in the south of Bangladesh,” said SP Roy. “This group was assembled to carry out militant activities in the Bagerhat area.”

A gun, two bullets, four hand bombs, two sharp weapons, a laptop, a few mobile phones and bomb-making materials were among the various items recovered from the site, he said.

Police raided the bridge area after receiving a tip-off about JMB members gathering to plan an attack, said SP Roy.

“They were trying to run away after throwing hand bombs. Police fired in the air and caught four of them. Two policemen were injured in the shooting ... they have been given primary medical care.”

Police have filed four cases against the suspects under the Weapons Act, the Explosive Substances Act and the ICT Act.

On Oct 25 four JMB members had been arrested in a police raid at Kholishakhali village in Bagerhat.

At a press conference after the raid Khulna Range DIG Moniruzzaman had said police had information about more JMB activities in the southern regions of Bangladesh.