Bangladesh raids militant hideout, militant commander's spouse among 4 surrendered

Four people including wife of a slain militant commander surrendered to police as Bangladesh law enforcers on Saturday morning conducted a raid on a hideout of banned Islamist outfit Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) in capital Dhaka.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia told journalists that the four surrendered to the police along with a pistol and several bullets.

He said the suspected militants include Jebunnahar Shila who was earlier identified as the wife of slain Major (retd) Jahidul Islam, militant commander of Neo-JMB (an offshoot of the banned militant outfit Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh) blamed for July 1 attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka's diplomatic quarter.

Shila had earlier managed to escape another drive in Dhaka couple months earlier.

Mia said the raid is still underway as three more militants wearing suicide vests are inside the three-story building.

He said the militants have been asked to surrender but they they are threatening to detonate grenades tied to their bodies.

A team of Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit of Dhaka Metropolitan Police cordoned off the building near Bangladesh's premier airport in capital Dhaka Saturday suspecting presence of militants there.

Shila's husband Bangladesh Army's sacked Major Jahid was killed in a raid in Rupganj on the outskirts of Dhaka on Sept. 2 months of after the deadly cafe attack.

Tamim Chowdhury, a Bangladeshi-Canadian and Sarwar Jahan, identified as Neo JMB chief who was also killed during a raid on Oct. 8, have been blamed as the mastermind of the brutal attack on the Spanish cafe.

Chowdhury was also killed in a police raid on Aug. 27 morning.

JMB carried out a series of bombings in 63 out of the country's 64 districts, including capital Dhaka on Aug. 17, 2005, leaving two people dead and 150 others injured.

Hundreds of JMB leaders and activists were rounded up while six top leaders of the group, including Shaikh Abdur Rahman, were hanged in 2007.

source: Xinhua