DHAKA, 8 March 2006 — Bangladesh police were hunting to nab more militant leaders in their pursuit to eliminate militancy from the country, sources said yesterday.
Investigators said yesterday they were on the trail of two more leaders of militant groups wanted for a series of blasts in the country. The leader of Jamatul Mujahedeen Bangladesh (JMB) Sheikh Abdur Rahman was detained last week after a siege in the northeastern city of Sylhet.
And the fugitive second in command, Siddiqul Islam, alias Bangla Bhai was caught Monday after a gunbattle.
Islam, also leader of JMB’s sister group Jagrat Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB) blamed for a number of vigilante killings in northern Rajshahi district, underwent an operation at a military hospital in Dhaka late Monday.
“As soon as he is released from the hospital we’ll start interrogation to get clues about the whereabouts of the other leaders,” said intelligence chief Col. Gulzar Hossain.
“With the capture of Bangla Bhai, we have arrested five out of the seven members of JMB’s seven-member decision making body,” security force Col. Mahbub Alam Molla said.
“We have now stepped up our operations to capture the two remaining members of the committee Salauddin and Khalid Saifullah. Their capture will completely break up JMB’s command channel,” he said.
The two-outlawed groups want Islamic laws imposed in the country.
Three Die, 30 Hurt in Stampede
Three women were killed and 30 people injured in a stampede to flee a garment factory after workers mistakenly set off a fire alarm after a light bulb burst, police said yesterday.
About 2,000 workers at the Sayem Fashions factory in Gazipur, 40 km north of Dhaka, scrambled for the exits late Monday, believing there to be a fire, police said.
Three women were killed and at least 30 were hurt in the stampede from the seven-story building, police chief Kamrul Islam said. “Among the injured, 21 were hospitalized at the local Gazipur hospital and the rest in the other Dhaka medical collage hospital,” he said.
