Child’s body found after raid on Sitakunda militant hideout

A child’s dead body has been found inside a militant den raided by police at Chittagong's Sitakunda on Thursday.

Chittagong Bureaubdnews24.com
Published : 16 March 2017, 03:45 PM
Updated : 16 March 2017, 03:45 PM

The body, torn apart in an explosion, was found next to the body of a woman on the staircase inside two-storey house 'Chhayaneer' at Premtala.

The child, approximately six years of age, died in a suicide explosion conducted by militants who were holed up inside the building, said Chittagong Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Habibur Rahman.

The child’s body is the fifth to be found inside the two-storey building.

Four suspects, three male and one female, were killed. Two died in a suicide blast and the remaining two were shot dead by police.      

The five bodies have been sent to a morgue for autopsies. Their DNA samples would also be collected, said ASP Habibur.   

Police's counter-terror official Sanwar Hossain said the bomb disposal unit diffused seven bombs and three suicide vests found in the house.

The bomb disposal unit finished their work at around 6:30pm.

Sitakunda police raided the Chhayaneer house on Wednesday afternoon based on information divulged by a ‘militant couple’ arrested from a flat at Sitakunda’s Namar Bazar.

Police and SWAT members surrounded the house after a grenade hurled from inside the building injured an officer. They were later joined by personnel from the counter-terror unit and the bomb disposal unit.

Law enforcers, after surrounding the building for 19 hours, stormed inside around 6:30am. Witnesses said the gunfire and powerful explosions could be heard in the area for about seven to 10 minutes.

Twenty people who were trapped inside were then evacuated from the house.