Police conduct drives in Moulvibazar hills to nab militants

Law enforcement agencies launched a joint operation in the remote Kalapahar areas of Kulaura upazila in Moulvibazar at 6:00am on Tuesday.

The drive involved the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), the Special Weapons And Tactics (SWAT) unit, the Detective Branch (DB), and the local police station.

A young individual participating in the operation told Prothom Alo over the phone that there has been light rain since morning, and they are facing issues with their mobile network.

CTTC chief Asaduzzaman is leading the team of around 50 members to raid two suspected militant hideouts in the remote hills.

Around 17 members of a newly identified militant group – Imam Mahmuder Kafela – were apprehended by local residents as they were attempting to escape from the Karmadha union of the upazila.

Among the detainees are a physician and two engineering students. They were handed over to the local public representative.

Later, a combined team of CTTC and SWAT members interrogated them for nearly 2.5 hours before taking them to the district police lines.

Earlier, the police had arrested 10 members of the militant organisation from a residence in the Karmadha area on Saturday.