By Mainul Islam Khan
DHAKA, Bangladesh
Bangladeshi police have arrested four people and seized 1,200 kilograms of explosive material during raids in the capital Dhaka and port city Chittagong.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Joint Commissioner Monirul Islam told reporters on Monday that the men had large amounts of sulphur, hexachloride and lithium, which they said could be used to make explosives.
He did not say whether those arrested were linked to militant groups but police in Bangladesh have made a series of arrests of people allegedly belonging to militant groups in recent months.
Earlier arrests of men accused of attempting to set up a network in Bangladesh for the Syria-based Daesh were followed last week by the arrest of 12 alleged Al-Qaeda members.
Bangladesh's elite security force, the Rapid Action Battalion, claimed on July 2 that it had also arrested the Bangladesh chief for Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent, the South Asian branch of the militant group formed last year.
The group has claimed responsibility for the killing of at least two of three secular bloggers hacked to death in Bangladesh between February and May.
