Kantajew Temple attackers arrested, remanded

Detectives early Friday arrested two members of New JMB militant group who the police claimed had been involved in the bomb attack on the historic Kantajew Temple in the district in 2015. The duo are Manik, 35, and Jakir, 37, of Nasratpur village under Chirirbandar. They were placed on a five-day remand each in a fresh case filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act. DB police arrested them from their houses in the early hours. “They were involved in the bomb attack on Kantajew Temple, and had been absconding since then. “We conducted the drive based on a tip-off that they returned home,” Dinajpur DB police Officer-in-Charge Md Moniruzzaman said. Ten improvised bombs were also found in their possessions. Senior Judicial Magistrate Gopal Chandra Roy ordered the remand when police produced them before it seeking seven days to interrogate them. The duo were also shown arrested in the case filed over the blasts that left at least 10 people injured. Police have already pressed charges in the case, in which six detained New JMB members were shown arrested. According to locals and the police, three hand bombs were hurled by some unidentified miscreants at the stage of Rash Mela being held on the temple premises around 1am on December 4, 2015. Police arrested three suspected militants soon after the attack. The New JMB militant group blamed for the attack has also been found involved in at least three dozen targeted attacks across country since September 2015. This new faction of Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) is reportedly linked to Syria-based terrorist group Islamic State. Though the IS has so far claimed responsibilities for 27 of the attacks since then, it did not take credit for the Kantajew Temple blasts.