Rab busts shops storing explosive chemicals in Old Dhaka, 3 held

Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) has busted two shops on the ground floor of a 10-storey residential building in Old Dhaka's Tikatuli area for illegally storing a huge stash of explosive chemicals.

Tipped off, a team of Rab-3 conducted a raid at 27 Russel Centre in Tikatuli yesterday noon and recovered explosives, hazardous and flammable chemicals like hydrochloric acid, sulphuric acid, nitric acid, toluene, isopropyl alcohol, ethanol and methanol, from two chemical stores -- Yasin Scientific Store and Jamuna Scientific Store -- on the ground floor of the building, according to a Rab press release.

The shops had stored the chemicals illegally without any license, the release read.

Three persons were detained in this connection. They are Md Abdus Salam (62), owner of Yasin Scientific Store; its manager Nur Hossain (65) and staff Shaheen (32).

Questioned, the detainees, in presence of a magistrate and officials of the narcotics department, said that they have been storing the chemicals at the shops for a long time.

The chemicals pose high risk of causing devastating damage and loss of lives in a residential area, the release added.

Legal steps against the detainees are underway, it added.