Autopsies of Chapainawabganj militants complete, ammo and explosives recovered

Members of Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of police and a bomb disposal unit have recovered one pistol and a suicide vest from a militant hideout in Chapainawabganj’s Shibganj upazila on Friday. Officer-in-charge (OC) of Shibganj police station Habibul Islam has confirmed the recovery. Furthermore, autopsies of the four militants, who were killed in suicide blasts on Thursday during Operation Eagle Hunt, have been completed at Chapainawabganj Sadar Hospital, the OC said. One of the bodies was confirmed to be that of Abu Ali, under whose name the hideout was rented, but the identities of the other three militants have not been determined as yet. Abu Ali's body was handed over to his uncle, Yasin Ali, and the other three are being stored at the hospital mortuary, the OC added. When contacted, the district’s Superintendent of Police TM Mojahidul Islam said: “The CID has not yet handed over the list of seized items to the police.” The operation, conducted by a Special Weapons and Tactics team of the Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) under Dhaka Metropolitan Police along with local law enforcement at the Shibnagar Trimohoni militant den, came to an end on Thursday evening. Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police of Rajshahi Range Khurshid Hossain declared the operation closed. On its closure, CID and the bomb disposal unit started working in the den. At the time, the bodies of militants were still lying inside. A drive to recover the bodies will begin on Friday, Chapainawabganj Additional Superintendent of Police Mahbub Alam Khan had told the Dhaka Tribune. He said the bomb disposal unit would check the house before the drive begins to recover the bodies. Law enforcement officials concluded Operation Eagle Hunt on Thursday, after four militants blew themselves up at the militant hideout in Shibnagar village. However, Sumaiya Begum, suspected to be militant Abu’s wife, left the building with a four-year-old girl, Sajida Khatun, around 5:30pm. Earlier, the Rajshahi Range DIG said law enforcement officials shot Sumaiya in the right leg before taking her into custody as they suspected she may have had explosives. She was taken to Chapainawabganj Sadar Hospital for treatment, where it was found that she was three months pregnant. Police sources said Sumaiya has been shifted to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital for better treatment.