Weapons, ammunition recovered in Rajshahi raid, pond searched

Three people have been detained in a raid carried out by joint forces at a coaching centre in the Kadirganj area of Rajshahi city.

During the operation, various weapons, ammunition, and bomb-making materials were recovered.

In addition, divers entered a nearby pond to search for more weapons. As of 3:00pm today, two divers were continuing the search.

The operation was launched at the ‘Doctor English’ coaching centre in Kadirganj. From 9:30am, army personnel cordoned off the building and blocked the adjacent road.

According to a statement issued in the afternoon and signed by the commander of the Rajshahi Army Camp, the raid was the result of a month-long intelligence surveillance.

A team from the 40th East Bengal Regiment (Mechanized) of the army began the operation around 1:30am early Friday night.

Montasebul Alam (Anindya), the owner of the Doctor English coaching centre, has been detained. The two others detained are Md Robin and Md Faisal. Montasebul is the son of Shafiul Alam (Lattu), a former vice president of the Rajshahi Metropolitan BNP.

The coaching centre is located on the ground floor of their family residence. They are relatives of former Rajshahi City Mayor AHM Khairuzzaman Liton.

Montasebul Alam had been arrested as a suspect in the murder case of Rezaul Karim, a professor in the English department at Rajshahi University. He was later acquitted of the charges.

According to a press release, the raid led to the recovery of: Three firearms and ammunition, a military-grade binocular and sniper scope, six locally made weapons, seven foreign-made sharp daggers, five high-quality walkie-talkie sets, a military-grade GPS device, a taser gun, various local and foreign cartridges, a large number of unused SIM cards, bomb-making materials, six computer sets, Tk 7,445 in cash, various local and foreign liquors and 11 nitrogen cartridges.

All of these items were found to be in active condition. The bomb disposal unit later defused the explosive materials.

Meanwhile, during the operation in the afternoon, Nasrin Begum, the mother of detained Robin, arrived at the scene and broke into tears. She claimed her son was innocent and unaware of any wrongdoing.

According to her, Robin had only started working there a month ago, cleaning the building.