Raid on Rajshahi Militant Den: 5 militants, a fireman killed

Five suspected militants, including three from a family, were killed as they detonated two suicide belts and hacked a fireman to death during a 36-hour raid on a hideout in Rajshahi's Godagari on Thursday.

Fireman Abdul Matin, 43, suffered serious wounds in the attack by four militants with a pointed rod, sickle and knife, witnesses and police say. 

He was rushed to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital where he died around an hour later.

Four policemen also suffered splinter injuries in the incident.  

Around 1:00am on Thursday, Rajshahi district police cordoned off the house of Sazzad Ali in Machhmara-Benipur village following information from Lawful Interception of Calls unit of the police headquarters.

Ignoring the call to surrender, militants blasted two bombs -- at 4:00am and 6:00am -- from the 800 square feet tin-roofed mud house in the middle of a cropland, police said.

Assured by police of foolproof security, fire-fighters joined in around 7:30am to help them “defuse explosives”. Matin and five of his colleagues started spraying water into the den through a window, standing around 100 yards away.

Half an hour later, six adults with two children burst out of the house, and five of them rushed towards the firemen and police, witnesses said.

The policemen ran away leaving the firemen behind. Four of the six militants attacked Matin as he slipped while escaping, according to witnesses and police.

Police opened fire but Matin was already severely wounded.

In the shooting, Sazzad, 45, his wife Lutfunnesa Bely, 40, and Sazzad's daughter Karima, 18, were killed, witnesses and police told The Daily Star on Thursday.   

Two other militants, Ashraful and Al Amin, both aged around 20, died in the two suicide blasts that took place almost at the same time of the firing, they added.

Sumaiya, another daughter of Sazzad, surrendered to police with her seven-year-old son Jubayer and one-and-a-half-month-old daughter Suraiya Akter Afia.

Upazila Nirbahi Officer of Godagari Jahid Newaz who was present at the scene said he saw two males blowing themselves up after they were shot.

Besides, a female was hacking the fireman even after she was bullet-hit, he added.

However, Additional DIG Masudur Rahman Bhuiyan on Thursday night told journalists that all the militants got killed in suicide blasts. Additional DIG Nisharul Arif echoed the same yesterday afternoon.

Rajshahi SP Moazzem Hossain Bhuiyan said they arrested Sumaiya's husband Zahrul Islam five months ago and he is still in jail.

Zahrul was radicalised by his father-in-law, according to his brother Mainul Islam, a villager of Machhmara-Benipur. 

“The militants were experts in making explosives and close associates of Neo JMB bomb expert Sohel Mahfuz,” Md Moniruzzaman, assistant inspector general at the police headquarters, told this newspaper.

Police say the dead militants include Ashraful from Chapainawabganj, who had been on the wanted list of police over the last one year.

Getting BSC engineering degree, Ashraful, who was not related to Sazzad's family, was the bomb and IT experts, said DIG Nisharul Arif.

Moments before the blast, Ashraful grabbed one leg of police constable Taijul Islam. The policeman, however, managed to escape by leaving his boot in Ashraful's hands but his right leg was hit by a number of splinters.

Three other cops -- Additional Superintendent of Police Sumit Chowdhury, ASI Utpal Kumar and ASI Ahsan Habib -- also suffered splinter injuries.

Police suspended the operation at 8:00pm. It resumed on Friday morning after bomb disposal unit reached the scene from the capital.

Hours before the operation ended at 1:00pm yesterday, the unit entered the den and recovered 11 live bombs, one pistol, two bullets, one magazine, 1.5kg gunpowder, four belts of suicide vests, a number of electronics devices, including circuits of suicide vests and batteries, and 20 jihadi books.

The unit also found broken pieces of mobile phones.

Police said they sent the bodies of the militants to Rajshahi Medical College morgue for autopsy. Relatives refused to accept the bodies and so, they would be buried through Quantum Foundation, officials added.

Earlier on May 7, militants tried to explode bombs grabbing policemen in a “Neo JMB” hideout in Jhenidah. Two suspected militants were killed then.

JAMAAT LINK

Talking to this correspondent, a number of villagers said Sazzad was a follower of the Jamaat-e-Islami and his father-in-law Lutfar Rahman was a former ameer of Matikata union unit of the Jamaat.

He used to sell towels, lungi and children's clothes in villages riding on a bicycle, said Al Amin of Harishankarpur village.

“Sazzad would often stop by gatherings of people and advise them to follow the path of Islam”, he said, adding that Sazzad also used to contribute to Jamaat fund.

Sazzad lived in front of his father-in-law's house at Machhmara village and he left the place six months ago for “Godagari town”, said her mother-in-law Sakhina Begum.

Nurul Huda, a villager of Benipur, said the den was on a piece of five-katha land owned by Sazzad's mother. The suspected militant started living there two months back.

Sazzad's mother Marjan Bewa said she refused to give him the land at first. But he kept claiming “his share”. 

SLOPPY DRIVE

Fire service officials say a sloppy drive is to blame for the death of their colleague.

There should have been coordination between local police and specialised units like Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit and Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT), they say.

Abdus Sattar, station officer of Godagari fire service unit, said, “Police officials assured us of foolproof security when they called us for the special operation.”

“We, however, saw policemen stepping back while militants were continuously hitting Matin and they opened fire only after Matin was badly wounded,” Sattar told The Daily Star. 

Maj AKM Shakil Newaj, director (operation) of Fire Service and Civil Defence, said this type of drive is supposed to be conducted by specialised units.

He said they want the authorities to find out the loopholes in Thursday's operation.

The fire service formed a five-member body to investigate the death of the fireman.

“Nobody wants any casualty. But it can happen in operations and we then take lessons from it so that no such incident recurs,” Additional DIG of Rajshahi Masudur Rahman Bhuiyan told this newspaper.

About the decision to spray water, Masud said it was necessary for defusing explosives.

AUTOPSY

Enamul Haque, assistant lecturer of forensic medicine department of Rajshahi Medical College, who performed the autopsy on the five, yesterday said that none of the militants were bullet-hit.

He said Al Amin's neck, chest, abdomen and legs were severely burnt. Ashraful had fatal splinter and burn injuries in the head, face, and abdomen while Sazzad had injuries in his abdomen and lower parts of the body.

Bely and Karima had splinter injuries in the face, chest and hands.

Enamul also performed the autopsy on Matin. He said the fireman had two deep stab injuries in the head.

Matin left behind wife Tanjila Begum and two school-going children.

Tanjila said Matin went to his duty on Wednesday afternoon and did not return home at night.

He called her Thursday morning to say that he would be late as he was taking part in the raid. She heard the news of his death on TV.

The fire service has decided to pay her Tk 10 lakh in compensation.

[Shariful Islam and Mohammad Jamil Khan contributed to this report]