Joint forces on Monday conducted drives at two houses, believed to be militant hideouts, at Colonel Haat and Uttar Kattoli in Akbar Shah areas of the city on Monday evening.

However, no arrest could be made during the simultaneous drives that lasted for two and half an hours as there was no one at the two houses, said Nazmul Ahsan, additional deputy commissioner of Chittagong Metropolitan Police (West).

He also said they did not find any bomb or other explosive substances at the alleged militant dens.

Acting on information gleaned from the ‘militant couple’ — Jashim and his wife Arjina who were arrested during a drive in Sitakunda upazila, two joint teams of police, Special Weapons and Tactics Team (SWAT) and Rapid Action Battalion (Rab), including a bomb disposal unit each, cordoned off a house at Road-1 of CDA Residential Area in Colonel Haat and another five-storey building at Uttar Kattoli under Akbar Shah thana around 4:00pm.

Some 200 members of the law enforcement agencies launched simultaneous operations at the houses around 4:45 pm.

Earlier on March 16, four suspected militants, including a female one, and a six-year-old boy, were killed during a special raid by joint forces on a militant hideout at Premtala in Sitakunda upazila of Chittagong, ending an overnight standoff. Two SWAT members were also injured during the gunfight.

The special team also rescued 20 people of a number of families who got trapped in the house during the drive.