The Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit (CTTC) on Thursday arrested five suspected extremists of Neo JMB’s ‘Wolf Pack’ from the Bashundhara residential area of the capital. Those suspected criminals were planning to attack the police. The cops, however, managed to foil the attack, said CTTC chief Monirul Islam yesterday.  He was talking at a press briefing in Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) media centre.  The suspected extremists are: Md Shiblee Azad, Shah M Asadullah, Masrik Ahmed, Md Ashraful Al Amin and SM Tasmim Rifat. Among them, Md Shiblee Azad, Shah M Asadullah are students of North South University (NSU).

Monirul Islam said those who were arrested were students and belonged to middle-class and lower middle-class families. “They were preparing for an attack on the police. Md Shiblee was leading the team. The rest were his assistants,” he added.

“Shiblee also collected materials to make ‘improvised explosive devices' (IEDs) for the attack. Asadullah, their spiritual leader, was trying to collect money for the assault. We’ve information that they were planning to attack the cops,”  said the CTTC chief.

“Masrik Ahmed was tasked with bringing weapons via the Jashore border. The rest worked for collecting more members,” he added.

Asked why the attack on the police was planned, Monirul Islam said: “Most of the militants were killed or arrested by the police after the Holey Artisan Bakery attack. In retaliation, they were planning to attack the police.

The attack was also aimed at intimidating common people.”  “A few more people were also involved with the plan. More information will be revealed later. We’re investigating whether they have any connection with the two similar-looking IEDs recovered earlier from other places ,” he added.

Responding to a question regarding Kashmir and Rohingya problems, the CTTC chief said: “Any regional or international incident often encourages or discourages militants. After the New Zealand attack, Sri Lanka was also attacked.” Experts said the Sri Lanka attack had taken place as a retaliation of the New Zealand incident. Following these two incidents, Bangladesh was at risk of militant attacks before last Eid. “But we were able to deal with the threat successfully.

However, we won’t make any comment on the latest Kashmir issue in India,” Monirul Islam said. “We are also keeping a close watch on the Rohingya camps so that new militants cannot be recruited from  Myanmarese citizens,” he added.