The banned Islamist outfit the Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) have been recruiting people into its suicide squad in Dhaka, the law enforcers quoted two JMB members as saying.

The Rapid Action Battalion detained the two members of the outfit in Dhaka early Friday, the New Age reported Sunday.

Officers of the battalion said, the two JMB members had been staying in Dhaka for a couple of months, recruiting people into the suicide squad.

The two were also engaged in collecting extortion money for JMB, they reportedly told the investigators.

The banned Islamist outfit launched a series of suicide bomb attacks over the country in the past two weeks, left at least 20 people killed and hundreds others injured.

More than five hundreds of JMB militants, including members of suicide squad of the banned Islamist outfit, were arrested by police since the country-wide simultaneous bomb blasts on August 17 in which three people were killed and over 150 others injured.

The security forces and the law enforcers recovered 12 sophisticated firearms with a large quantity of ammunition from capital Dhaka and the forest in southeastern Bandarban on Saturday.

In Dhaka, the Detective Branch police recovered an AK-47 rifle along with 141 bullets on early Saturday.

In Bandarban, troopers of the Bangladesh Rifles, in a drive on Saturday noon, found four AK-47 rifles, seven 9 mm pistols and 2, 000 rounds of ammunition.

In another drive, the border guards detained three Myanmar nationals from the district. The three are suspected to be members of Myanmar guerrilla groups.

Earlier, a joint team of the police and Rapid Action battalion recovered more than 25 kg of bomb-making materials.

The top-placed leaders of different professional bodies expressed their grave concern and anxiety over the recent bomb blasts and threats on lawyers, cultural workers, journalists and innocent people throughout the country by JMB.

Professional bodies on Saturday held an exchanging of views in the capital on the recent crisis of bomb blasts.

They noted that the suicide bomb blasts are not only hampering the peaceful environment of Bangladesh but also jeopardizing democracy, freedom and sovereignty.

Dr AZM Zahid Hossain said, " We will form a platform comprising all political parties and professional bodies and mobilize the common people to unveil the identity of the Islamic militants behind the Islamic militants behind the disastrous incidents."

Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in Parliament and Awami League President Sheikh Hasina Saturday said that the opposition would send a formal letter to the United Nations seeking assistance to probe bomb terrorism by militants.

Source: Xinhua