Four ‘JMB men’ arrested in Rangpur

The police claimed they arrested four operatives of banned extremist outfit Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh after a clash with them at Shahbazpur in Rangpur early Sunday. Four police personnel including Rangpur Detective Branch of police sub-inspector Masud Karim were injured in the clash. They took primary treatment at Rangpur Medical College Hospital. The law enforcers recovered a locally made pistol, three crude bombs and sharp weapons from the spot. On a tip-off, police conducted a drive at a discarded brickfield in the area to arrest the extremists around 2:30am, said Mizanur Rahman, superintendent of police in Rangpur. Sensing presence of the law enforcers, they blasted crude bombs while police fired blank shots, and later arrested the four JMB men. The arrestees were identified as Belal Hossain, 45, son of late Joyenuddin, Ershad Alam, 28, son of Hobibur Rahman, Ashraful Islam, 23, son of Mantajur Rahman, and Al Amin, 20, son of Ismail Hossain, all residents of Pirgachha in the district. They were the associates of Masud Rana, JMB commander of Rangpur region, and Ishaq Ali, another JMB leader, police claimed. Masud and Ishaq, both arrested, were the accused in the murder case of Japanese citizen Kunio Hoshi in 2015. They were also accused in another case of attempt to murder Bahai community leader Ruhul Amin.