Gazipur: Five members of banned militant outfit Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) including a woman instructor were detained on Tuesday night, claimed Rapid Action Battalion (RAB).

RAB-1 officials via a test message at about 5:00am on Wednesday claimed to have stormed two hideouts in Gazipur’s Tongi and Chhoydana areas and detained five members of JMB, including the woman trainer and acting chief of JMC south zone Rasheduzzaman Rose, who used to study in Canada.

‘Rasheduzzaman tudied in a Canadian university between 2006-2012,’ said RAB spokesman Mufti Mahmud Khan.

Khan told AFP that Rasheduzzaman, who was tasked with organising the JMB’s women’s wing, was a close associate of Mahmudul Hasan, who was the JMB southern regional head before he was arrested in July.

RAB also seized bombs, arms, and explosive materials from their possession. 

Bangladesh’s government has blamed the JMB for the 1 July  attack on an upmarket cafe in the capital Dhaka’s Gulshan neighbourhood in which 20 hostages, including 18 foreigners, were killed along with two policemen.

Police have said Tamim Chowdhury, another senior JMB figure and a Bangladesh origin Canadian citizen, masterminded the Gulshan siege and a deadly attack on Bangladesh’s largest Eid congregation a few days later.