It took the commandos, who stormed the Biman Bangladesh Airlines plane on the Chattorgram airport’s tarmac, eight minutes to neutralize the suspect in the attempted hijacking of Dubai-bound flight BG 147.
The suspect, who claimed himself as Mehedi and was in his mid-20s, died from gunshot wounds sustained in the swift commando operation, the Bangladesh Army said.
“The para-commandos had been deployed at [navy ship] BNS Isha Khan. There were called in around 6pm and ended the hijacking situation through a successful operation which only took eight minutes,” Major General SM Matiur Rahman, the general officer commanding of the 24th Infantry Division in Chattogram, told the media.
He said that the suspect declined calls to surrender by the commandos. “He took an attacking position… he was shot during an exchange of fire and later died,” said the senior army officer.
The passengers and crew members are unharmed, Matiur said before adding, “The 134 passengers and 14 crew members disembarked from the flight safely. The aircraft was not damaged during the raid. It has been inspected and declared safe for flight operation.”
Responding to query, the he said the suspect wanted to talk to the prime minister and his wife.
Lieutenant Colonel Imrul Hasan, who had led the commando operation to free hostages in the Holey Artisan Bakery terror attack in Dhaka in 2016, led the raid at the Chattogram airport, said the two-star general.
“We were lucky that they were here. They have conducted a successful operation to end the hijacking situation by only eight minutes. The pilot initially though the suspect to be foreigner, but he was a Bangladeshi,” he said.
Only a pistol was found on the suspect, said Maj Gen Matiur said. “Nothing else has been found. He had not attempted to harm the passengers.”
A team of navy and the Chattogram-based RAB-7 chief and his team provided the commandos support during the operation, he said.
Responding to a query, the 24th Infantry Division chief said, the suspect received gunshot wound inside the aircraft and later died