Law-enforcement agencies cordon off two suspected militant hideouts in Moulvibazar Sadar upazila on Wednesday. Photo shows policemen took position around one of the hideouts in Borohat area under Sadar upazila. Photo: Observer
Law-enforcement agencies including SWAT have launched Operation Hit Back to neutralise suspected militant den at a house in Nasirpur area of Moulvibazar Sadar upazila.
Kamrul Ahsan Deputy Inspector General of Police said multiple gunshots were heard after the operation had been launched. SWAT and counterterrorism personnel started the operation around 6:30pm on Wednesday.
Another house at Borohat in Moulvibazar municipality, some 18 kilometres from the house in Nasirpur, has also been cordoned off.
Meanwhile, militants hurled grenades at police at intervals from the hideout in Borohat town. In retaliation, the law enforcers also fired gunshots targeting the den.
Kamrul Ahsan, told journalists that they are still not sure how much explosives are in the house in Borohat area. Law enforcers cordoned off the area since 10:30pm on Tuesday night, the DIG said.
Mohibul Islam, Deputy Commissioner of Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit (CTTC) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police said at least two to three suspected militants may have been inside the town hideout and eight to nine in the village den. The CTTC members from Dhaka and police were conducting the drive, he added.
Deputy Commissioner of Moulvibazar Tofail Ahmed said Section 144 has been imposed in the area including Ward 6 of Borohat and Kutumbagh area of Moulvibazar city from 2:00pm. On the other hand, Section 144 has been imposed around 2-kilometer radius of the Khalilpur union.
Just the previous day, army commandos ended an operation codenamed "Operation Twilight" at a house called Atia Mahal at Shibbari of Sylhet and handed the crime scene over to the police. Four militants, including a woman, were killed during the commando assault in Sylhet.
In Moulvibazar, four adults using fake national identity cards rented the Nasirpur building, under siege of the police now, the caretaker of the building said.
Jewel Ahmed, caretaker of the one-storied house in Nasirpur and a relative of the house owner Saifur Rahman, living in the UK for the last 30 years, said the tenants came two months ago.
The tenant identified himself as one Kamrul Talukder alias Mahfuz and agreed on a monthly rent of Tk 7,000, top law enforcing officials, who quizzed the caretaker said.
The tenant moved in two months ago with his wife, parents in-law and children.
Police scrutinised the tenant information as they provided and found out that the identity cards they used were fake, officials of CTTC unit said.
