Bangladesh's second top Islamist militant was captured on Monday after a gunbattle with security forces in a northern district, police said. They said Siddikul Islam Bangla Bhai, chief of the outlawed Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh group, was arrested along with his wife at his hideout with two of his associates in the district of Mymensingh. His capture comes four days after another top fugitive Islamist, Shayek Abdur Rahman, was detained in the northeastern town of Sylhet.A militant was killed and an officer of elite Rapid Action Battalion force suffered a gunshot wound to the head. Bangla Bhai was also injured, but it was not immediately known how seriously.
Security forces had surrounded Bangla Bahi's hideout since Sunday midnight and closed in before sunrise. The militant and his men threw bombs at the security forces and later opened fire, triggering a shootout, police said. It was not known if anyone was killed or wounded during the fighting.
Shayek Rahman led another outlawed Islamist group, Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen.