Suspected JMB member arrested as police recover pipe bombs in Bangladesh raid

Counterterrorism police arrested a suspected member of banned militant group Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh and recovered explosives during a raid Tuesday evening in Savar, authorities said.

The Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit, Savar Model Thana Police and a bomb disposal team raided a ground-floor room in Dakshin Shyampur in Tetuljhora Union and detained Arif Hossain.

Police recovered five powerful pipe bombs from the room, which were safely detonated on site, along with bomb-making equipment, bottles, drums and chemical apparatuses. Six additional bombs connected to the investigation were kept at a local police outpost.

A nearby shopkeeper said residents had noticed nothing suspicious before the raid.

“We had no idea anything like this was happening,” he said, translated from Bengali. “If something dangerous had happened here, many people could have lost their lives.”

The building was later declared safe and returned to residents.