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Afghanistan/South Asia
Stories from the Bangladesh Police Log
2005-08-19
Over 100 homemade bombs seized in Munshiganj
MUNSHIGANJ, Aug 18:–More than 100 homemade bombs were seized from a house under lock and key at Baligaon in Tongibari upazila Thursday evening, reports UNB. Police held Rashida Begum (38) suspecting her involvement in making of the bombs. Tongibari thana OC Shah Alam said the bombs seemed not so powerful but enough to create panic by blasting them. Munshiganj is the only district where no bomb was blasted on Wednesday.
Looks like they found the bombs that were supposed to used there. Somebody oversleep?

JMB activists' confession
Three people including two Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) activists arrested in Satkhira and the capital have admitted to having carried out blasts in their districts Wednesday, the day a series of explosions rocked the entire country. Superintendent of Police (SP) in Satkhira Abdur Rahim yesterday told reporters that JMB had executed the almost synchronised blasts to free Ahle Hadith Chief Dr Galib, who had been arrested for alleged links to Bogra bombing.

Our Satkhira Correspondent reports: Nasir Uddin, 45, and Maniruzzaman Munna, 35, were held three hours into the bombings. Nasir, a farmer, and Munna, owner of a signboard shop, claimed themselves to be members of Jamaatul Mujahideen, and told police that they detonated bombs in two spots in the town Wednesday morning.

Police in plain clothes arrested Nasir at his Bakal Islampur house at about 1:30am after a tip-off by a local rickshawpuller. "The rickshawpuller said to have seen him carrying the bag that exploded shortly after he had dumped it near women and children's court [Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal]," said an official of Satkhira Sadar police. Following leads obtained from Nasir, police arrested Munna at his house in Itagacha area of the town. Munna told police that on August 15, Nayeem called him on his cellphone, saying he [Munna] has to do a 'dawati job'. Nayeem called him again on August 17 at 8:00am and asked him to meet him in a lane behind the women and children's court, police told reporters quoting Munna.

Munna, who also took Nasir with him, found an unknown man with two bags waiting for them. The man asked Munna to leave the bag in the court building after switching on the timer of the bomb. But he refused to do the job, as he feared police might identify him easily. So, Nasir took the bomb to the courthouse while Munna carried the other bag to Hospital-er More in the town. Police also picked up Anisur Rahman Khokan, 50, also a signboard shop owner, yesterday morning on suspicion of having involvement in the bombings.

Meanwhile, SP Abdur Rahim told reporters that they have been confirmed that the JMB cadres had unleashed the countrywide serial blasts. The arrestees also said Ahle Hadith Chief Dr Galib is their leader. "They ran the attacks to get their leader freed," the SP said yesterday. Satkhira police produced the two before a court, seeking 10 days' remand for each, but Magistrate Saidur Rahman granted eight days'. Sources said the two would soon be taken to Joint Interrogation Cell (JIC) for questioning.

DHAKA
Ramna police arrested Ruhul Amin Bachchu on a pavement between Hotel Sonargaon and Bangla Motors when a bomb inside the packet he was carrying exploded in his hands at 11:15am Wednesday.
"Oooh! Ow! Ow! Ow! My fingers! Where are my fingers!"
"Over there by the fireplug!"
"Thank Gawd! I was afraid I'd lost them!"
Detective Branch (DB) of police took him for questioning after treatment at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH). Sources in the police said Ruhul had confessed to having made the attack but Shahidul Islam, deputy commissioner of DB, denied the claim. On his confession, DB took the arrestee to the spot and several other places to learn more about the blasts.
"Don't kill me! I'm disabled! I ain't got no fingers!"
But the DC told The Daily Star last evening, "He is yet to admit the crime." Ruhul, however, claimed himself to be a labourer and said he had come across the packet on the pavement and right after picking it up, a bomb went off in his hands.
"Yeah! It wudn't mine! Somebody left it there!"
He was taken on a five-day remand yesterday.
"Remand him, Danno!"
Meanwhile, our Kushtia correspondent adds: Shamsul Alam, another JMB activist arrested in connection with Wednesday's countrywide explosions, had admitted his involvement in the blasts. Law enforcers, however, were tight-lipped about the information extracted from Alam, arrested Wednesday in Kushtia town. Police said Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) nabbed him from Chourhas area soon after the blasts.
"Drop the shutter gun, Alam!"
"I ain't got no shutter gun! Don't kill me!"
Alam told the local police that he was involved in the bombing in his region.
"I'll talk! I'll talk! I dunnit! I can show you the crime scene..."
"You can show us later!"
"When?"
"About 2 a.m.!"
He was sent to Dhaka yesterday for quizzing by the JIC.
"Don't let 'em get me!"
Our Kushtia correspondent gathered that Alam hails from Kishorinagar under Daulatpur upazila and is a regional leader of the JMB. According to the locals, he got military training from JMB leader Bangla Bhai in Natore three years ago. After the training, he had returned to his village and dedicated himself to organising the militant outfit, which now has at least 100 activists across the district. Alam had passed Alim exams in 2000 and Fazil in 2002 and joined local Shehala Dakhil Madrasha as an assistant teacher. While a student of madrasa, he was involved with Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS), the student wing of ruling Jamaat-e-Islami.

JMB blamed for blasts-Police deployed at KPIs in Chitagong
CHITTAGONG, Aug 18: - Top detectives here in the port city today confirmed involvement of outlawed Jamaat-ul Mujahidin Bangladesh (JMB) in yesterday’s countrywide blasts. A dozen of the outlawed party workers have so far been taken into police custody today. The detainees were facing primary police interrogation till the time of writing this report.Live bomb carriers detained yesterday from different city points reportedly confessed to the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) that they had never enrolled as the activists of any political party formal or outlawed.
"Really! We didn't! Don't kill us!"
The detainees reportedly admitted that they ultimately had refrained from planting the bombs even after they received Taka 1000 each for the job. Slow decision-making in discharging the assigned duty is believed to have left them into police handcuff. Investigators quoting the detainees said that the perpetrators of yesterday’s blasts supplied money to the hired workers through unknown people.
"And what'd these unknown people look like?"
"They looked... ummm... kinda unknown."
"Mahmoud! Hit him again!"
Most of the bombers deployed yesterday were not known to each other. All security agencies are now in the field to figure out the dens of the militant and communal organization Jamaat-ul Mujahidin Bangladesh. Senior intelligence officials admitted that a methodical search plan had already been prepared to track down the leaders and workers of the underground anarchists.
It'll be interested to see which pols get indignant about the methodical search plan, though we'll probably never really see the detail of the politix working out. Bangla's press isn't as informative as the Pak press, possibly because their spelling and grammar are so bad...
Security arrangement at all key point installations (KPI) here in the port city has been reviewed today with adequate importance. New squads of plain clothed police have been deployed in and around the KPIs. Open operation of Jamaat-ul Mujahidin Bangladesh declared prohibited by the government in February this year when indiscriminate killing believed to have been perpetrated by the leaders and workers of the organization drew flak from different corners. The government also ordered arrest of the party’s top leaders. Subsequently, police nabbed a professor of Arabic department of Rajshahi University Dr. Abdullah Al Galib on charge of preaching youths to fight a religious battle for establishing Islamic rule in the country. Detectives have information that Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai is leading the underground militant party. Despite frantic efforts by the top detectives and the security agencies Bangla Bhai could not be brought to justice.
Posted by:Steve

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