Police arrested a youth in a house at Gabtoli upazila in the district early yesterday and seized powerful explosives and bomb-making substances from his possession. The detainee Shafiqullah, who hails from Bandar upazila of Narayanganj, claimed himself to be a member of Tablighi Jamaat while police said they believe he is an operative of Islamic militant group. The seized materials include three small containers of picric (acid), more than 20 electronic circuits, three small boxes of ICs (integrated circuit), one box of electric doorbell switches and a coil of litmus paper. The coil was inscribed with Universal Indicator PHI1-10. Police, however, could not say immediately what were in the 23 other containers that too were seized. Police raided the house of Joynal at Chaksudhu village in Gabtoli at about 1:30am on suspicion of his involvement in the Saturday's bomb blasts in Bogra and Natore that left two people dead and 70 others injured. Jaynal, reportedly a follower of Bangla Bhai, operation commander of Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB), could not be held. Instead, police found Shafiqullah and recovered the explosives and bomb-making materials. Shafiqullah said he was introduced to Joynal in an Islamic function three to four months ago.
| A wedding, perhaps? |