Narsingdi: The bodies of two suspected militants were recovered from a ‘militant den’ at Bhogiratpur in Sadar upazila following a joint operation, ‘Gordian Knot’, on Tuesday.

Briefing journalists around 4:00 pm, CTTC chief Monirul Islam said the operation in the five-story building at Bhogiratpur ended around 4 pm with the recovery of the bodies of two militants, including a female one, reports the UNB.

‘We had asked them to surrender before launching an assault on the den but they opened fire on us that triggered a gunfight. The suspected militants died during the gunfight,’ he said.

A firearm and four unexploded bombs were recovered from the den, he added.

Earlier, members of Counter Terrorism and Transnational (CTTC) unit of DMP and Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) started the operation at the ‘militant den’ in the morning.

The CTTC unit kept another den cordoned off at Madhabdi in Sadarupazila since Monday night.

Abul Kalam, officer-in-charge (investigation) of Madhabdi Police Station, said over 100 police surrounded the seven-storey building of Afzal Haji in Gangpar area under Madhabdi municipality and another 5-storey building of cloth trader BillahHossain in Bhogiratpur area around 9 pm Monday.

Two SWAT teams and detectives joined the CTTC team at night.

Later, a team of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) also joined them on Tuesday morning.

CTTC chief Monirul Islam reached the spot in Bhogiratpur area at 9 am and briefed reporters that they were suspecting that some 3-4 militants have been staying along with explosives inside the house.

After the arrival of Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Dhaka Range Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, PPM, at the spot around 10:10 am, Monirul Islam urged the militants over loudspeaker to surrender.

Having no response, a SWAT team entered the den around 11:30am and started their drive.

Inspector General (IG) of Bangladesh Police Dr Mohammad Javed Patwary reached the spot around 12pm.

Earlier at night, the district administration imposed section 144 in and around 500-yard areas of both the buildings, said Shah Alam Mia, executive magistrate of Sadarupazila.

Meanwhile, police detained Md Nazmul for allegedly bringing a militant suspect as a tenant of the house in Bhogiratpur.