Advanced Pipe Bomb Recovered at Metro Station Was Designed to Explode When Its Umbrella Was Opened

❐ Aynal Karigor

Law enforcement agencies have recovered a pipe bomb on the road below the metro rail station in the Shapla Chattar area of ​​Motijheel in the capital. Upon receiving information, the Bomb Disposal Unit of Dhaka Metropolitan Police quickly reached the spot and safely defused the hazardous object.

The bomb was cleverly placed inside an umbrella. Police said no more bombs placed inside umbrellas have been seen in recent times.

In the wake of such a horrific incident, metro rail services were temporarily suspended.

However, members of the Bomb Disposal Unit said that the bomb was defused in time due to precautionary measures taken.

On Friday night, July 24, pedestrians spotted a suspicious umbrella below the metro station near Shapla Chattar. Initially, local reports spread that miscreants had thrown a petrol bomb at the road. However, later, police members present at the scene examined the matter and clarified that it was not an ordinary petrol bomb.

Police sources have confirmed that the recovered object was actually a pipe bomb strategically placed inside the umbrella. It was placed there with the terrifying plan of causing an immediate explosion if anyone tried to open the umbrella.

The DMP’s specialized team defused the pipe bomb with great efficiency, averting a potential major accident and damage. Currently, law enforcement agencies have intensified the investigation to identify the perpetrators behind the incident.

The names of Mufti Harun Izhar and his father are intertwined in the history of pipe bombs in Bangladesh.

The name of the mastermind behind the incident of hoisting extremist flags modeled after ISIS militants across the country has already been revealed. Mufti Harun Izhar, the fearsome militant who worked as a teacher at the Shariah Graduation Institute on Nazimuddin Road in the capital and the founding director of the institute, is here. Let’s learn about his history and past.

 

The time was October 7, 2013. The country was in turmoil with the mass movement, the trial of war criminals, and the riots at the Shapla Chattar in custody. At that time, a terrible explosion occurred at the Jamiatul Uloom Al-Islamia Madrasa in Lalkhan Bazar, Chittagong. At least 8-9 people were injured, and one person died while undergoing treatment. Initially, the Madrasa authorities tried to cover up the incident by making a ridiculous claim that a computer’s ‘UPS’ exploded, but later the intelligence agencies and experts from the Bomb Disposal Unit found traces of the production of improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, or hand-made bombs there. Several unexploded ‘pipe bombs’ and bomb-making equipment were recovered.

The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) later arrested four militants of the banned militant outfit Harkatul Jihad in Dhaka for their involvement in the incident. Among them was a fugitive accused in the August 17, 2005 serial bomb attacks. Two of them were arrested from Uttara in Dhaka and the other two from Ashulia with weapons and explosives. At that time, 1,100 rounds of SMG bullets, 32 pistol bullets and one kilogram of explosives were recovered from the four arrested.

The police immediately described the bombs recovered after the explosion at the Lalkhan Bazar madrasa dormitory under the control of Hefazat-e-Islam as ‘hand-made grenades’. At that time, various parties made provocative statements claiming that the incident was a conspiracy by the Awami League government against the madrasa and Islam. However, bomb experts later identified them as ‘pipe bombs’.

In January 2011, 11 similar bombs were recovered from the Hathazari police station area of ​​Chittagong. At that time, experts said that bombs using this technology were made in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The militant organization Lashkar-e-Taiba is accused of carrying out the most sabotage using this technology.

Intelligence information at that time also revealed that Mufti Izharul Islam, the director of Jamiatul Uloom Al Islamia Madrasa – Nayeb-e-Ameer of Hefazat-e-Islam and a member of the central committee of Nezam-e-Islam – and his son Mufti Harun Izhar had direct links with Lashkar. Mufti Harun himself gave this information to the police during interrogation by the intelligence police after his arrest in 2011. Earlier, on December 15, 2010, his father Mufti Izharul Islam – who is notorious as a top militant leader in the subcontinent – was arrested on charges of involvement with Harkat-ul-Jihad.

After talking to the intelligence officers and bomb experts on duty at the time, it was confirmed that the bombs recovered from the dormitory of the Lalkhan Bazar madrasa were of pipe bomb technology. One of the features of which is that these bombs cannot be detected by airport scanners and in many cases even by trained dogs.

Experts told this reporter that the terrorists used coffee to mix the bomb’s ingredients with color and odor to make it undetectable. US forces had suffered heavy losses from such bomb attacks in Afghanistan numerous times. These bombs have caused them a lot of suffering. Later, the Americans used ‘Water Blade Stingray’ technology to defuse such bombs in Afghanistan.

An official of a security agency in charge at the time, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that pipe bombs are not detected by scanners. Trained dogs also fail because they are confused by the smell. The main equipment for making these bombs is pipes and sockets (aluminum used for sanitary purposes) available in various hardware stores in the country. It is possible to make this powerful bomb with other readily available materials such as urea, nitric acid, potassium chloride, nitrobenzene, carbon tetrachloride and sugar. It would be terrible if the scanners and trained dogs failed to locate this bomb.

After the 2013 explosion, the Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) wrote in their report: ‘After the explosion, 4 unexploded hand grenade-like bombs, 250 pieces of GI pipe, 100 marbles, a twisted mobile set, 200 grams of GI wire, twisted springs and two slide ranges were recovered from the madrasa dormitory.’

Although the police initially described the recovered bomb as an older version of a homemade grenade, experts were able to identify it as a pipe bomb used in Pakistan and Afghanistan after taking into account the fact that the homemade grenade was attached to a GI wire and a mobile phone.

Santosh Chakma, then sub-inspector of the CMP’s intelligence branch and a member of the Bomb Disposal Unit, admitted that the bomb recovered from Hathazari in 2011 was similar to the bomb recovered from the dormitory of the Lalkhan Bazar madrasa owned by Mufti Harun Izhar.

Bomb experts said that banned militant organizations in Bangladesh are making IEDs using technology from Afghanistan and Pakistan. These bombs are made by placing explosives inside thick iron pipes. To detonate, a special ring of pins like a grenade is placed outside the bomb. This type of bomb is also called a pressure release bomb. The special ring outside this bomb explodes with a loud sound within a few seconds of throwing it. Its destructive power is increased by the fact that it has a hard iron casing outside. And since the bomb has explosives and sharp objects inside, those splinters rush and tear people apart.

A police bomb expert, who did not wish to be named, said that in such bombs, a battery is used along with the initiator. Alternatively, a mobile phone is also used directly instead of a battery. A battery or a mobile phone is added to activate the explosive. Especially in Pakistan and Afghanistan, militants use such technology to make hand bombs.

Intelligence reports indicate that the notorious JMB militant in Bangladesh, Jahedul Islam alias Bomber Mizan, was the first to make bombs using this technology. After that, another JMB militant named Masum tried his hand at making bombs. Nurunnabi, who was killed in the bomb blast at the Hefazat-controlled Lalkhan Bazar madrasa, also received training from them.

Abdul Karim Tunda’s technology was used to make bombs using this IED technology. Lashkar-e-Taiba leader Abdul Karim gained notoriety in India in the 1990s for making bombs using this IED technology. When a part of his left hand flew off while making a bomb, he added the adjective Tunda to his name. According to Delhi Police, Tunda has been carrying out terrorist activities in India for more than two decades. Tunda, who is directly accused in 43 explosions, is accused of receiving training in explosives making from Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI in the 1980s.

This Tunda has trained militants even after coming to Bangladesh. And the truth of this information is found in the information given by the detained Mufti Harun after his arrest. After his arrest on November 5, 2011, he admitted to the intelligence officers in Dhaka that he had direct links with Lashkar. After the 2013 blast, the intelligence officers put two and two together. Using the technology taught to them by the Hifazati Madrasa in Chittagong, bombs were being made.

Izhar’s son Mufti Harun was arrested in October 2013 for his involvement in the grenade explosion at Lalkhan Bazar Madrasa. A case was filed against Hefazat-e-Islam leader Mufti Harun by Hefazat-e-Islam itself due to his association with the banned militant organization JMB. He was imprisoned for a long time. His father Mufti Izhar was also arrested later on the same charges. He also spent a long time in prison. When the detectives brought him before the journalists after his arrest, he raised two fingers and made a V-sign and said, “I am the founder of the grand alliance.”

Mufti Izharul Islam Chowdhury fled immediately after the grenade explosion at Lalkhan Bazar Madrasa. After being on the run for 2 years, he returned to Lalkhan Bazar Madrasa. Mufti Izhar and his son Harun Izhar, along with several others, were accused in three cases filed in connection with the grenade explosion. An arrest warrant was also issued against Mufti Izhar for not taking bail in three cases, including the Explosives, Acid Control Act and a murder case.

Intelligence agencies had said that a base of international militants had been established at the Jamiatul Uloom Al-Islamia Madrasa, located at the foot of the hill in Lalkhan Bazar, under the direction of Mufti Izaharul Islam. From there, the plan to attack the US Embassy and the Indian High Commission in Dhaka in late 2009 was hatched.

The attack was masterminded by the banned Islamic militant organization Lashkar-e-Taiba. Haroon Izhar, son of Izharul Islam, was associated with it. Police and intelligence officials said that another major terrorist attack was planned from there.

In late 2009, there were reports that militant attacks on two embassies in Dhaka could occur at any time. Based on this information and a telephone call, it was learned that the attack was planned at Mufti Izharul’s madrasa. Some of the international militants associated with it were staying at Mufti Izharul’s madrasa.

Upon receiving this information, the intelligence police conducted a raid on the madrasa and arrested Izhar’s son Harun Izhar and Indian citizens Shahidul, Salam, Sujan and Al Amin alias Maiful, members of the South Indian organization Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Sources said that during the 2009 raid, the intelligence police seized a laptop from Haroon Izhar’s room. The laptop contained information about the attacks on the US and Indian High Commissions. Before the police raid began, T. Nasir and Sarfaraz, two top leaders of Lashkar-e-Taiba, escaped from there.

On November 6 of that year, two Indian militants were arrested by Indian security forces while they were fleeing across the Kumira border into India. They were involved in several major terrorist attacks, including the bomb attack in Bengaluru’s Computer City. They were the most wanted in India. To avoid arrest, the two militants fled to Bangladesh via Dubai and took refuge in Mufti Izhar’s madrasa.

Earlier, RAB conducted a raid on a hilltop training camp of HuJI in the Raozan Rubber Garden Godarpar area and recovered jihadi books and a large quantity of explosives. Two cases were filed under the Explosives and Anti-Terrorism Acts in this incident. Eight people, including Mufti Izharul Islam Chowdhury, were accused in both cases.

Mufti Izharul Islam was arrested along with two associates by RAB-7 on December 15, 2010, on charges of having links with Harkatul Jihad. RAB arrested the then Amir of Harkatul Jihad (HuJI), Maulana Yahya alias Bardda (46), and his two associates, Md. Bahauddin (22) and Yar Mohammad (50).

During initial interrogation, Yahya said that an organizational office has been opened at Mufti Izharul Islam’s Lalkhan Bazar Madrasa to expand HuJI’s dominance in greater Chittagong. Some militants who were arrested in January 1999 on charges of attempting to kill the late poet Shamsur Rahman said that they had received training at Mufti Izharul Islam’s Lalkhan Bazar Madrasa.