A string of bomb recoveries and explosions around Savar and Ashulia has raised fresh concerns over possible militant regrouping on Dhaka’s doorstep, with investigators linking some recent incidents to suspected Neo-JMB operatives and warning of plans for major acts of sabotage.
At least 16 explosives, including two powerful pressure cooker-type bombs, have been recovered from Savar and Ashulia over the past two weeks.
The latest discoveries came on Tuesday, when police recovered 14 pipe bombs and bomb-making materials in separate operations and found another powerful device near a madrasa and mosque in Savar.
The developments are part of a wider pattern emerging since late last year.
Investigators believe members of Neo-JMB may have links to at least 11 incidents since an explosion at Al-Qura Madrasa in South Keraniganj on December 26, including bomb attacks, weapons recoveries and explosives found in Dhaka and surrounding districts.
Police have stepped up intelligence surveillance, patrols and searches, but several questions remain unanswered -- particularly over who is producing the explosives, where the materials are coming from and whether the incidents are part of a coordinated attempt to reorganise militant networks.
The latest alarm came on August 11 when a pressure cooker-type bomb wrapped in black tape was discovered in a forested area in front of Jamia Ilmul Ilah Society Madrasa and Jame Masjid at Laltek Goper Bari in Savar.
The DMP bomb disposal unit later defused the device.
The same night, police recovered nine explosives and bomb-making equipment from a house in Shyampur after arresting Arif Hossain in Hemayetpur with five explosives.
Police said a total of 14 pipe bombs were recovered during the operation.
A similar pressure cooker-type bomb had been recovered from a travel bag outside a grocery store in Ashulia on July 30.
Earlier, on July 11, 20-year-old Rony suffered severe injuries, including damage to his wrist and four fingers, when an explosive went off while he was allegedly making a cocktail inside a room in Ashulia.
Five days earlier, an explosion at an NCP rally in Savar left at least four people injured.
Police see possible militant network
Dhaka District Superintendent of Police Shamima Parveen said intelligence had indicated that suspected militants were operating in the area and had prepared two particularly destructive bombs.
She said: “We had some information. We came to know that militants might be staying here. As you know, those who were involved in the Keraniganj madrasa incident came from there and took shelter with us here.”
She said: “We had information that they had made two big and destructive bombs. We were able to recover both of them.”
Police have increased intelligence surveillance through the Detective Branch and District Special Branch, alongside patrols and searches. Residents, particularly landlords in densely populated workers’ neighbourhoods, have also been asked to verify tenants.
Investigators have drawn connections between the recent Savar operations and the December explosion at the Keraniganj madrasa.
Following that blast, investigators recovered a mobile phone that led to a February raid in Jessore, where 10 powerful grenades, three foreign pistols, ammunition and sharp weapons were recovered.
Investigators are also examining suspected links to an attack on police in Kutubkhali in February, a bomb attack on a temple in Comilla in March, the killing of a minority community member in Feni, a pipe-bomb explosion in Jatrabari, an attack on intelligence officials in Uttara and the recovery of a bomb beneath Motijheel Metrorail station.
Police alleged in a case filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act that those involved in the latest Savar operation were members of Neo-JMB who had gathered with explosives to carry out subversive activities.
Arif has been arrested, while several other accused remain absconding.
Why Savar?
Savar and Ashulia’s enormous population, industrial neighbourhoods and constantly changing population make the area particularly difficult to monitor, according to police and crime experts.
SP Shamima Parveen said: “This area is densely populated. Workers live here and they are mostly floating. There is a situation here where they come today and are not there tomorrow.”
She said these characteristics could make the area attractive to people seeking to conceal their identities or activities.
Crime expert Dr Touhidul Haque of Dhaka University said: “Areas around Dhaka like Savar, Narayanganj and Gazipur have become a kind of shelter for criminals. They choose these areas because it is relatively easy to live with little money and mix with locals and make bomb cocktails. Criminals are also brought here from other places and kept here.”
He called for stronger intelligence gathering, tenant verification and monitoring of the sale and purchase of materials that can be used in explosives.
Concerns over regrouping
Human rights activist Nur Khan Liton cautioned against prematurely dismissing the recent discoveries as staged, a suspicion shaped partly by controversies surrounding some alleged militant incidents under the previous government.
Nur Khan said: “Since people have seen or suspected many staged dramas in the past, they have a suspicion in this case too. But as much as there was reason to suspect in the context of that time, there is less reason to suspect in today’s context.”
He said: “No thought or ideology actually dies. It can be temporarily stagnant for various reasons.”
His assessment is that extremist elements may be attempting to reorganise, potentially recruiting supporters and seeking training opportunities.
A history going back two decades
Savar’s association with militant activity is not new.
During JMB’s coordinated nationwide bombings on August 17, 2005, six bombs exploded in Savar.
Ten-year-old Abdus Salam was killed and another child was injured. JMB later claimed responsibility for the nationwide attacks.
In 2010, RAB arrested three suspected militants, including the then head of JMB’s Dhaka division, from Savar and recovered petrol bombs and bomb-making materials.
Seven years later, RAB arrested three members of the JMB-linked Sarwar-Tamim group in Savar with firearms, plastic explosives and bomb-making materials.
Months later, four suspected members of the same group surrendered after security forces surrounded an alleged militant hideout in Ashulia.
They had reportedly rented the property posing as garment workers.
Nearly two decades after JMB’s nationwide bombing campaign first exposed Savar’s militant footprint, the latest trail of explosives has brought the area back under scrutiny.
This time, investigators face a more immediate question: whether the bombs being recovered are remnants of scattered extremist activity, or signs that an organised network is again taking shape on the outskirts of the capital.