Residents of Moulvibazar’s Kulaura have detained 17 people believed to be involved with the Imam Mahmuder Kafela militant group and have reported the incident to the police.
The suspects were detained in the Askarabad CNG Stand area in Karmada around 10 am on Monday. They have been held at one of the union council’s rooms under police guard, said UP Chairman Muhibul Islam Azad.
The group was heading from Askarabad to Kulaura when the autorickshaw drivers grew suspicious and detained them with the support of locals. Afterwards, a police patrol team arrived and took them to the union council by autorickshaw.
Chairman Muhibul said he believes that Imam Mahmud who is allegedly leading the group is among the detainees.
“The detainees have been detained in a big, locked room at the union council,” said Abdus Salek, chief of Kalaura Police Station. “A police team is at the location. More details will be released at a later time.”
A team from the Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crimes unit has been dispatched to Kulaura after the incident was reported.
“We are on the way,” said Md Asaduzzaman, chief of the police unit. “Once we get there, we will identify the people.”
The specialised police unit conducted a raid in Tattiwali village in Karmada on Friday night, eventually arresting 10 people. Several children accompanying them were taken into protective custody.
CTTC chief Asaduzzaman had said they were part of a new militant group, known as Imam Mahmuder Kafela.
The CTTC said they seized several kilograms of explosives, 50 detonators, training manuals, commando boots, jihadist literature, Tk 365,000 in cash, gold jewellery and sharp weapons from the scene.
Locals had been on the alert in the area since the raid, said Rahena Akhtar, a woman representative on the Karmada union council. Police patrols were deployed in the area.
Rahena believes a section of the militant group was in hiding in the hill areas during the CTTC raid. She thinks they came out of hiding to try and escape the area on Monday.
