JMB militants trained online to make bombs, police say


FE Team | Published: August 02, 2021 14:51:44 | Updated: August 02, 2021 20:19:55


JMB militants trained online to make bombs, police say

The bomb discovered by the counterterrorism police at a traffic box in Narayanganj was made by neo-JMB militants who learned online how to create explosives.

The militants who planted the bomb at the police traffic box on May 16 had received instructions from Forkan, a JMB bomb specialist who conducts training sessions online, CTTCU chief said.

Md Asaduzzaman, chief of the Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crimes Unit (CTTCU), said this at a news conference on Monday, after law enforcers arrested two militants in Jatrabari on Sunday.

The bomb did not detonate due to a malfunction in the remote control, reports bdnews24.com.

A counterterrorism team raided a Jatrabari neighbourhood and arrested Md Shafiqur Rahman Hridoy aka Khattab and Md Khalid Hassan Bhuiyan aka Afnan.

They were found in possession of 400g of an explosive substance, three butane gas cans, a set of remote control devices, four boxes of small bearing balls, two rolls of electric tape and a manual for building IEDs and a Pulsar motorcycle used in the attack.

On Jul 11, JMB military branch member Abdullah Al Mamun was arrested in Narayanganj’s Araihazar in the possession of bombs and bomb-making materials, said Asaduzzaman.

The two arrested on Sunday were apprehended based on information from his interrogation.

In an initial interrogation, the detainees said they had planted the bomb at the traffic box on May 16 at the orders of neo-JMB emir Mahadi Hassan Jon aka Abu Abbas Al Bangali.

Shafiqur and Khalid admitted that they had received online training from Forkan and studied bomb creation manuals and videos.

Asked about Forkan, Asaduzzaman said efforts were underway to arrest the militant, but that law enforcers were informed that he was a student at the Department of Chemistry at Jahangirnagar University.

Militant activity has increased online, the counterterror chief said, adding that law enforcers are alert to the danger.

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