Dhaka – Nine suspected militants were killed during a shootout with specialized teams of Dhaka Metropolitan police in the city’s kallyanpur on early Tuesday.Deputy Commissioner (Media) of DMP Masudur Rahman said members of law enforcement agencies cordoned a 5-storey building of Kallyanpur after 12:00 am and started increasing its strength as they had information that it was a militants’ den.At one stage, members of Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) and Bomb Disposal Unit, two specialized teams of Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan police started operation at around 5:50 am and it was continued for one hour, the DC (Media) said.
The militants hurled hand grenades and spread bullets targeting the law enforcers.
Additional Commissioner (Crime & Ops) of DMP briefed on the spot and said that nine militants were killed during the gunfight.
Security forces have cordoned off the house next to a girls’ high school at Road No. 5, Mirpur Police Station OC Mahbub Hossain said around 3am on Tuesday.He said the militants were shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ while firing shots.
“The operation wen on,” he said. MP Additional Deputy Commissioner Jasim Uddin said around 3:20am, “The militants fired on police from a house.” “The operation aimed to catch the militants,” he added.’
Mirpur Police Station Sub-Inspector Rafiqul Islam said top officials were called after 2am and asked to send forces to the Road No. 5 at Kalyanpur.
Crime Control Room operator Moniruzzaman said police in Mirpur launched an anti-militant drive around 12:30am.
Earlier, police alerted the residents of the house. To avoid general causality, police did not conduct any drive at midnight and took time to evacuate the house.
Later around 5:51 am, members of Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) and Bomb Disposal Unit, two special teams of Detective Branch started their operation named, ‘Operation Storm-26’ and continued for an hour, the DC (Media) said.
At one stage, he said, the militants hurled grenades and fired shots at the law enforcers, triggering a gunfight that left the nine ‘militants’ dead on the spot.
Later, DMP Additional Commissioner (Crime & Ops) Shiekh Maruf Hasan briefed reporters on the spot.
Inspector General of Police (IGP) AKM Shahidul Hoque visited the spot around 7.45am. “We’re primarily suspecting that the militants are members of the banned outfit Jama’atul Mujaheed Bangladesh (JMB) and they had no link to IS members,” said the IGP.
Shahidul Hoque also said these militants had similarity with the Gulshan café attackers who had worn black clothes and turbans on their heads and carried bags. “They were preparing to carry out sabotage,” added the police chief.
DMP Commissioner Md Asaduzzaman Mia said a bomb disposal unit is working at the house to defuse bombs.
UNB reported: Sensing the presence of police, two militants from the 4th floor of the building jumped off and tried to escape. Police opened fire on them which left a militant, Hasan, injured while another managed to flee. The injured man was taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).
A policeman suffered injuries as militants opened fire on the law enforcers.
The gunfight has taken place in less than a month after terror attack at a Spanish cafe in Dhaka’s Gulshan diplomatic enclave on July 1. A total of 27 persons, including 17 foreigners and two policemen, and five suspected attackers were killed in the attack.
In another another gun and bomb attack at Sholakia in Kishoreganj on the Muslims’ greatest religious festival Eid day on July 7 including two policemen and a woman were killed.
Dhaka and the rest of Bangladesh has been in panic since then and security forces have alerted VIPs and senior government officials against security risks of attending public meetings and social gatherings, and asked them to move out only after being sure that respective police staions have taken adequate security measures.
All schools and colleges in the city’s Kalyanpur area where nine suspected militants were killed in police firing during an operation by a special team of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) early Tuesday, have been closed out of a security concern.
S Ahmed Khan Saiful, headmaster of Holly Crescent Model School, said, “Guardians were scared by the incident and phoned me.”
“I contacted the authorities of a good number of schools and colleges in the neighbourhood and we reached a decision to keep the institutions shut for the day on security ground,” said the headmaster.
