Dhaka, Mar 29 – Nearly eight hours after Bangladesh Army officially called off its operation at ‘Atia Mahal’ in Dakkhin Surma upazila of Sylhet on Tuesday night, police cordoned off two houses at Fatehpur village and Barohat in Sadar upazila of Moulvibazar early Wednesday, suspecting those to be militant hideouts.“Police cordon off the houses around 4am,” said officer-in-charge of Sadar Police Station Wakil Ahmed.
He said members of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) and firefighters also joined the police.
Earlier, 10 people, including four militants and two police officials, were killed and at least 40 people injured during the 83-hour long operation, ‘Twilight’, at Atia Mahal, said Army’s Military Intelligence Director Brig Gen Fakhrul Ahsan.
Police launched the drive at the militant den in the early hours of Friday and later handed over the charge to army commandos on Saturday morning.
The army commandos then evacuated 78 members of 28 families trapped in the five-storey building.
After confirming the death of all the four militants, the bomb disposal units of Army entered the house and diffused all the explosives planted inside the building, bringing an end to the operation.
Besides, six people, including two police personnel, were killed and 40 injured in two bomb blasts near the militant hideout on Saturday evening. – UNB
