The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has claimed to have arrested four suspected militants after what it described as a gunfight in Mymensingh.
The incident took place at Khagdahar area near the city during the early hours of Saturday, Md Rokanuzzaman, the chief of Mymensingh-based RAB 14, told Dhaka Tribune.
Khandaker Al Moin, director of RAB's legal and media wing, at a press briefing on Saturday said initial interrogations revealed that the militants were preparing to rob various financial institutions in the district.
The suspects have been identified as Julhas Uddin alias Mehedi, 34, and Alal alias Ishaq, 48, from Mymensingh, Robaid Alam alias Rub, 33, from Brahmanbaria, and Abu Ayub alias Khalid, 36, from Rangpur.
A pistol with three rounds of ammunition, eight bomb-like objects and several equipment to break locks were found on the suspects, said RAB.
“A raid was conducted in the area on a tip-off. At one point, the suspects opened fire forcing the RAB to retaliate,” said Rokanuzzaman. The four men were arrested after the shooting ended, he added.
During initial questioning, the suspects said that they belonged to banned militant outfit JMB, according to RAB media wing chief Moin.
“Ehsar operatives of the JMB are actively involved in various terror attacks and in robberies at financial institutions to gather funds for the organisation,” he added.
How the robbery was planned
The suspects said that a group of 10 to 15 activists would gather information about several financial institutions, NGOs, gold shops in Mymensingh, the RAB claimed.
The idea was to transfer the loot to another group soon after the robberies, said senior RAB official Moin before adding that the suspects had held a meeting on August 31 in Jamalpur.
They travelled to Mymensingh’s Khagdahar on Saturday by a trawler through the Brahmaputra River.
