RAB intelligence chief injured in Sylhet blasts airlifted to Dhaka

RAB Intelligence Wing chief Lt Col Abul Kalam, seriously wounded in blasts that killed four people in Sylhet, has been flown to Dhaka for better treatment.

He was one of the 30 people injured, many seriously, near a militant den where the army commandos are conducting an operation to bust the militant hideout.

The wing's director was earlier treated at Sylhet Osmani Medical College Hospital after being injured in the blasts at Pathanparha of South Surma at around 7pm on Saturday but later shifted to Dhaka.

"After several surgeries at the Sylhet hospital, he was brought to Dhaka by a helicopter after midnight," said one official.

RAB spokesperson Mufti Mahmud Khan said Azad was admitted to Dhaka's Combined Military Hospital.

Doctor Antar Dwip Nandi at Osmani Medical College Hospital told bdnews24.com: "His (Azad's) condition was critical when he was brought here. He received splinter injuries all over his body. The doctors here sent him to Dhaka after conducting several surgeries."

The law enforcers in Sylhet cordoned off the militant den in Shibbarhi early on Friday. Members of police's counterterrorism unit, SWAT and RAB from Dhaka reached the area later on the day. Army para-Commandos were also called in later.

The commando operation began at 9am on Saturday after a 30-hour standoff.

Nine hours after the operation, the army said that the commandos rescued 78 civilians from the buildings where the militants holed up.

At a media briefing at the scene, an army spokesperson said the operation was yet to end.

Within an hour of the briefing, two blasts at one end of the street to the militant den occurred.

One of the injured people told bdnews24.com that the second blast took place when RAB and police personnel went to the spot after the first blast.

Four people, including a police inspector, were killed and more than 30 others injured in the blasts. The injured people include another RAB official, a Detective Branch official and a police official.