The nationwide police action started on Thursday, two days after a retired army official’s son and his cohort were arrested for attacking police in Comilla.
Terming the raids a continuous process against militancy, police headquarters special task group chief Md Moniruzzaman, said the crackdown will continue until March 19.
In the first two days, 19 suspected members of the banned militant outfit Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and one each belonging to Harkat-ul Jihad al-Islami Bangladesh, Allahr Dal and another extremist group were arrested.
On the third day, 27 more people with their alleged links to militancy were arrested. Police did not reveal what outfit they belonged to, though.
On March 7, two youths-- Ahmed Azwad Imtiaz Talukder Omi and Mahmudul Hasan-- hurled grenades at a patrol team of highway police in Chandina upazila of Comilla.
They were later detained, leading to Omi’s confession that he was in touch with Dhaka cafe attack mastermind Tamim Chowdhury, also the military commander of New JMB.
Later, acting on the information the two had divulged, police discovered a militant hideout in Chittagong’s Mirsarai upazila, seizing a huge cache of explosives and bomb-making material.
Sunday, July 19, 2026
