Scary recovery

In an overnight raid yesterday, the Rapid Action Battalion seized a huge cache of explosives and bombs from a militant hideout at Halishahar in Chittagong.

The haul includes 150 kilograms of explosives, 76 "powerful bombs" including 22 Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), 30 kinds of bomb-making materials and 24 shotgun shells.

At least 2,000 powerful bombs could have been made with these materials, claimed Rab Director General Benazir Ahmed.

"A battalion of army could be equipped with the recovered materials," said the Rab chief, who flew by a helicopter from Dhaka to Chittagong yesterday morning to brief the press on the raid on a house in Bashundhara Golden Residential Area of the port city.

Police also arrested four people, in this connection. Photo: Anurup Kanti Das

On the destructive power of the bombs recovered, Rab-7 Assistant Director Shaheda Sultana, who had led the drive, said each of the IEDs had a kill radius of about 30 yards.

Among the explosives was 500 grams of PETN or pentaerythritol trinitrate, she told The Daily Star.

Just 100g of PETN is powerful enough to blow up a car, according to a 2009 report of the British daily The Guardian.

The Biya Bhaban, in Halishahar in Chittagong, where law enforcers conducted a drive and recovered a large number of bombs and a huge amount of bomb-making materials, at a flat. The law enforcers also arrested four people in this connection. Photo: Anurup Kanti Das

Four people, including a woman, were arrested at the house. They are Md Fayzul Haque, 30, Jahedul Alam Jahed, 30, and Rahima Akhter, 21 -- all hailing from Pekua of Cox's Bazar; and Md Abdul Hai, 36, from Morelganj of Bagerhat.

The elite force personnel also recovered a number of books and documents on jihad and a copy of the constitution of Islami Chhatra Shibir, the student front of Jamaat-e-Islami which is a key member of the BNP-led 20-party alliance.

The combine since January 6 has been enforcing an indefinite countrywide blockade and intermittent hartals, marked by widespread firebomb attacks and violence that have claimed at least 80 lives so far.

Yesterday's drive was a sequel to a February 21 raid in which the Rab busted a militant training camp camouflaged as a poultry and livestock farm in Chittagong's Banskhali, arrested five people and seized some firearms, including AK-47 assault rifles, and training equipment.

Law enforcers conducted a drive and recovered a large number of bombs and a huge amount of bomb-making materials. Photo: Anurup Kanti Das

Based on information from those arrestees, the Rab conducted the drive on the five-storey building yesterday.

During the raid, the elite force also seized a huge number of batteries, light bulbs, masks and gloves from the flat on the ground floor.

Besides, 97 pairs of training shoes and as many jungle boots, nylon belts and combat boot socks were also found there, leading the law enforcers to believe these would be used for training militants for carrying out "an awful attack" in the country.

Rab chief Benazir did not disclose what militant outfit the arrestees belong to "for the sake of investigations", and said they were working to track down the entire network.

The elite force will also look into whether the militants had any domestic or foreign support, he added.

Meanwhile, residents of the building said the arrestees had rented the flat only a month ago and they had no idea what the flat residents did.