Arrested Neo-JMB men planned suicide attack at police station headed by female OC, police say

The suspected militants held on Monday night in the port city had plans to carry out a suicide blast at Chittagong’s Sadarghat Police Station as the officer-in-charge is a female there, DB police have said at a media briefing.

“They targeted the police station to dent the spirit of the police force,” said Deputy Commissioner Hasan Md Showkat Ali of DB CMP (Chittagong Metropolitan Police) on Tuesday.

Quoting the detainees, the officer said they were members of the suicide squad of Neo-JMB, the revived chapter of Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh.

“They worked in a group of five or six people. They introduced themselves as tyre sellers and used fake NIDs to take the house on rent two months back.” The house used to remain empty most of the time, house-owner Ibrahim Mannan told reporters.

The police detectives arrested Ashfaqur Rahman, 22, and Rakibul Hasan, 19, in a drive on a five-storey building near Shubhopur Bus Station at West Madarbarhi under Sadarghat Police Station on Monday night.

Ten live grenades and two suicide vests were found on them.

While facing interrogation, the duo said they had come to the port city two months back to attack a police station following orders from their 'leader'.

“They did the recce on different police stations but picked Sadarghat because the OC is a female. They frequented a mosque inside the station premises,” AAM Humayun Kabir, additional deputy-commissioner of Counter-Terrorism Unit, told bdnews24.com.

They were waiting for the final nod from 'Don', he said.

Two other members of the unit, ‘Misbah’ and Jibon Islam were due to take part in the attack, according to police.

“The militants picked Sadarghat as it is densely populated with labourers mostly,” Kabir said.

A Chittagong court granted police seven days on Tuesday evening to question the two in custody.