Anti-terror police have arrested five of a family in Dhaka for their suspected involvements with banned militant group Ansar al-Islam, also known as Ansarullah Bangla Team.
The arrests were made in the wee hours of Saturday (Jul 27) from the Rupnagar area in the capital’s Mirpur area, Superintendent (SP) Md Mahiduzzaman of the Anti-Terrorism Unit (ATU) told Bangla Tribune.
The suspects have been identified as Ahmed Ali, Salma Ahmed, their sons Zakaria and Kibria, and daughter Asma Ferdous.
“They have been living at the Rupnagar building for over a decade and are active operatives of Ansar al-Islam,” said SP Mahiduzzaman of the ATU’s Legal and Media Wing.
According to him, the suspects blasted bombs and attacked police during the raid forcing anti-terror officers to open fire.

ATU members cordoned off a five-storey building on Road 28 at the Rupnagar Residential Area around 1.30am on Saturday, according to media reports.
Around 2am, police went up to the third floor and knocked on the door of a flat, asking the suspects to open the door. However, getting no response, police broke inside, where the residents attacked them with sharp weapons forcing the law enforcers to open fire, Additional Deputy Inspector General Md Moniruzzaman told an English national.






Three ATU members and one of the suspects, Zakaria were injured during the exchange, according to the senior police official.
"When we broke in, we found that the family members had opened a tap inside, and flooded the entire flat," the newspaper quoted Additional DIG Moniruzzaman. "We seized a few sharp weapons, chemicals and explosive materials."
Suspect Zakaria has been admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) while the injured ATU members are being treated at the Rajarbagh Police Lines Hospital, he added.
Moniruzzaman claimed the suspects were operatives of Ansar al-Islam, a group with suspected ties with Islami Chhatra Shibir, the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami.
“We are still investigating the matter,” he was quoted saying.