Pally News Desk:
RAB has said that the militant hideout in the Akbar Shah area of Chittagong belongs to the militant organization Harkatul Jihad. They have arrested three people from the house. Earlier, two people were arrested outside the house this morning.
Mufti Mahmud Khan, director of RAB's Media and Legal Wing, told reporters at an initial briefing at the RAB-7 headquarters after the raid on the militant hideout on Thursday morning. He said they had set up the hideout in the city's Colonel Hat area to snatch militant leaders detained in Chittagong Jail.
Mufti Mahmud said that 8-10 days ago, the detained militants of Harkatul Jihad were planning to carry out major sabotage and kidnap their detained leaders commando style by setting up a hideout.
After arresting two militants named Tajul Islam and Nazim Uddin with arms and ammunition from the AK Khan area of the city in the early morning, RAB found the militant hideout. According to the information provided by them, the law enforcement forces conducted a raid on the two-story building of Mansur Ahmed in Mukim Talukder Para under Akbarshah Police Station area and arrested three members of the militant organization. In the raid that lasted till 10:30 am, 12 national identity cards, two pistols and various explosives, seven magazines, bullets, jihadi books and CDs along with various types of explosives were recovered. Those arrested during the raid are - Hafez Md. Abu Zar Gifari, Nur Alam and Iftisham Ahmed.
Mufti Mahmud Khan said that the detainees are close to Mufti Mainul Islam, the regional commander of Harkat-ul-Jihad (HuJI). They had set up a hideout here to snatch the detained top leaders. They also planned to attack law enforcement installations.
During the operation, the militants tried to escape by exploding from inside and destroying laptops and various electronic equipment inside. Later, RAB broke down the main gate of the building and entered inside. At this time, the entire house was covered in smoke. Panic spread in the area. RAB announced on a hand microphone to the locals not to panic and for the militants to come out.
Local Nurul Alam member said that the detainees rented a flat in the house for 4,000 taka a few days ago. Of this, they paid 1,000 taka in advance. They were supposed to bring their family members there on Wednesday. But at night, when no female member came, two men entered the house with several belongings.
