Bomb-making materials, crude bomb-like objects found in Savar building

Police recovered several crude bomb-like objects and a large quantity of bomb-making materials and equipment from a three-storey building in Savar's South Shyampur area yesterday (11 August) during a raid by the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC).

The operation began after CTTC arrested a man in Hemayetpur based on a tip-off. Police said the man later provided information that led them to the building.

Savar Model Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Saiful Alam said police initially suspected the arrested man of having links to the banned Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).

CTTC members, along with the Bomb Disposal Unit and police, surrounded the building shortly after 7pm, he said.

Police recovered several JMB leaflets, objects resembling cocktails and a significant quantity of materials and equipment used to make bombs from the building, the OC said.

According to a police source, five bombs were recovered from the bag of the man arrested in Hemayetpur, while another eight were recovered from the building based on information he provided, taking the total to 13.

Ilma, daughter of the building's owner Abdul Jalil, said a man named Abbas Ali and another person came to rent the house and were given the flat in the first week of August.

"They said they would live there as husband and wife and would enrol their children in a nearby school. We rented it to them thinking they were a family. We had no idea they were hiding so many things inside," she said.

She said the tenants had told them they worked as drivers.

When this reporter visited the area around 9pm, CTTC and Bomb Disposal Unit personnel, along with local police, were stationed in front of the building beside a waterlogged road.

For security reasons, CTTC personnel asked journalists and other civilians to move away from the building. Officials at the scene also declined to comment.

Rakibul Hasan Ishan, additional superintendent of Dhaka district police, told The Business Standard that he was not aware of the operation.

The OC said the arrested man was being taken to different locations as part of the ongoing operation.

From around midnight, the Bomb Disposal Unit began defusing the recovered explosive devices. Five loud explosions were heard from the building during the operation.

CTTC and Bomb Disposal Unit members declared the operation wrapped up at around 1am and left the spot. However, law enforcement agencies said no media briefing would be held regarding the operation.

After leaving the building, CTTC and other law enforcement personnel involved in the operation went to the Tannery Police Outpost under Savar Model Police Station.

Starting around 3am, they deactivated several remaining powerful bombs through special measures on the banks of the Dhaleshwari River adjacent to the outpost. Six consecutive explosion sounds were heard from the area during the process.

The CTTC and Bomb Disposal Unit members later returned to Dhaka.