Chapainawabganj: The operation, 'Eagle Hunt', which was launched on a 'militant den' at Shibnagar Trimohoni in Shibganj upazila, has been suspended for Wednesday.

The drive was postponed due to technical reason and it will resume on Thursday morning, said SWAT deputy commissioner Pralay Kumar Joarder.

He said 4-5 big explosions took place at the house after the operation began.

A Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team of the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) under Dhaka Metropolitan Police started the operation around 6:45 pm, said police super TM Mojahidul Islam.

He said the militants threw four grenades from the house at the law enforcers after the operation began.

Sounds of sporadic gunshots were heard from the den.

The SWAT team reached the spot from the capital by a helicopter around 4:45pm.

The CTTC suspects that there are 3-4 militants, including one Abu, in the house.

Around 5pm, police brought Abu's mother Fulsana Begum and his auntie Chamely to tell him to surrender. However, the call of Fulsana to her son went in vain as no response was found from inside.

Tipped off, police encircled the suspected militant hideout around 5:30 am, said officer-in-charge (OC) of Shibganj Police Station Habibul Islam.

"The militants fired several gunshots from the house towards the law enforcers in the morning," the OC told UNB.

Later, a CTTC team joined the police, he said.

Meanwhile, the district administration imposed section 144 in and around Shibangar Trimohoni for the sake of security of locals and to ward off any untoward incident, said a CTTC official, adding they have already taken the residents of the adjacent houses to safer places.

Locals claimed Abu along with his family rented the house two and half months ago introducing him as a spice vendor.