Law enforcers cordon off two suspected militant hideouts in Jhenaidah

Security forces have sealed off two houses in Jhenaidah after intelligence indicated that militants may have been using them as hideouts.

Jhenaidah Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 16 May 2017, 04:35 AM
Updated : 16 May 2017, 07:36 AM

An officer of the Jhenaidah-based unit of the Rapid Action Battalion or RAB said that they have surrounded two houses in Chuadanga Village near the district town.

Local RAB-6 Company Commander Maj Munir Ahmed said the houses were cordoned off early on Tuesday after receiving inputs of suspected militants being holed up there.

The two single-storey houses, adjacent to each other, are owned by Selim Hossain and Pranta.

Police have detained them.

Hossain is the brother of suspected militant Tuhin, one of the two killed during the May 7 anti-terror raid at the district's Maheshpur Upazila.

Pranta is their cousin, said senior RAB officer Ahmed.

"According to our intelligence, militants are using the houses as hideouts and have stored explosives."

He said they will move in after the bomb disposal unit arrives.

In the last one month, security forces have found five terror dens in the southwestern district, including those being sealed off on Tuesday.

On Apr 20, police raided a house at the Porahati Village near the town.

No one was found in the house of Muslim convert 'Abdullah', but police said they found explosives and bomb-making materials there.

On May 7, two houses were raided in the same district. Two suspected militants were killed at the hideout in Maheshpur Upazila while police found firearms and bombs at the other house on the outskirts of the town.

On Apr 26, police raided a militant hideout in Chapainawabganj, when four terror suspects were killed in suicide blasts, officials said.

The latest anti-terror raid took place on May 11 in Rajshahi. In an effort to thwart police from storming the hideout, five of a family blew themselves up.

Before setting off suicide blasts, the suspected militants launched an attack on police and fire service personnel, spearing a fireman to death.

Police said they found explosives and firearm in the house at a village in Godagari Upazila of the northern district.