To escape the massive surveillance by law enforcers, arsonists are now seeking innovative methods to carry out deadly attacks on important places, Rapid Action Battalion officials say.

Rapid Action Battalion officials on Sunday recovered a bicycle rigged with explosives, which was specially made to attack establishments escaping any suspicion from law enforcers.

RAB officials came to know the fact soon after they caught an alleged arsonist Rakibul Islam Mandal alias Rakib red handed with the specially made bicycle which was made in Khulna and was delivered to Dhaka through courier for to carry out arson attacks.

‘RAB intelligence came to know that arsonists are gathering bomb making materials in Dhaka using innovative ways to make losses in major establishments. On information, a special team arrested Rakib from Karnaphuli Garden City market adjacent to the city’s Shantinagar area at about 1:45am and recovered a specially made bicycle from his possession which was filled up with huge number of explosives,’ said commander Mufti Mahmud Khan, director at legal and media wing of RAB.

The official disclosed the fact at a press briefing in RAB-2 office in Agargaon organised to inform journalists about the recovery of the explosives from three young persons, who were arrested in separate raids in Dhaka.

Following information provided by Rakib, the RAB team later conducted a drive in a house at Kalta Bazar area at Sutrapur in Dhaka at about 4:55am and arrested Mohammad Aminul Islam Rana and Aminul Islam. The team also recovered 58 crude bombs, a pipe gun, 48 cocktails, 500 gram sulfur powder and other bomb making materials from their possession.

‘The arrestees have confessed that they were following instruction from former Bangladesh Chhatra Dal organising secretary Anisur Rahman Khokhon and was carrying out arson attacks in Dhanmondi, Badda, Kawran Bazar, Motijheel and Gulshan,’ Khan said.

They have exploded four crude bombs near the Hotel Westin in Gulshan, three crude bombs in Gulshan-1 intersection, four to five bombs near an English Medium School just beside the Metro Shopping Mall in Dhanmondi and five to six crude bombs in front of Southeast Bank at just opposite to Hotel Sonargaon in Kawran Bazar, said elite force officials.

In their latest initiative, they were planning to carry out devastating attacks at important structures.

‘As there was massive surveillance by law enforcers, they took an innovative way by filing explosives inside the steel tubes of bicycle so that none can suspect them. The specialised bicycle can cause losses of structures situated in 30 yards from the explosion place. The bicycle bomb is first of its kind in the country,’ added Khan.