Top militant leader arrested in Bangladeshi capital

DHAKA, Bangladesh

A top leader of a banned militant group was arrested in Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka in the early hours of Thursday, an official said.

The suspect was apprehended after an hours-long operation at a multistory building believed to be used as a hideout by the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), according to an official of the elite force Rapid Action Battalion (RAB).

Khandaker Al Moin, head of the RAB’s Legal and Media wing, did not disclose the suspect’s name.

“We have also recovered a pistol, bullets, locally made bulletproof jackets, chemicals, and around 300,000 Bangladeshi taka [$3,500],” he said.

Last Saturday, the RAB arrested four alleged JMB members following a gunfight in the northern Mymensingh district.

Bangladesh formally banned the JMB, also listed as a terror group by the UK, in 2005.

The group is infamous for the August 2005 bombings in Bangladesh, when around 500 small blasts took place in some 300 locations across the country, killing at least two people and injuring more than 115.

Four leaders of the militant group were executed in 2007 for the murder of two judges.