Bangladesh Army on Saturday recovered a large cache of firearms and raw materials for making explosives from a coaching centre in Rajshahi city.
They also detained three men.
The arrested are Montaserul Alam alias Onindo, an English teacher and owner of the coaching centre 鈥楧octor English鈥� located at Kadirganj, and his associates Md Robin and Md Faisal.
Onindo is the son of former Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader Shafiul Alam Latku and a cousin of former Rajshahi city mayor and Awami League presidium member AHM Khairuzzaman Liton.
He was earlier arrested in connection with the Holey Artisan Bakery attack in Dhaka, and Rajshahi University slain Professor AFM Rezaul Karim Siddique鈥檚 murder, but got released later as his name was not included in the charge sheets in either of the cases.
A press release issued by the army鈥檚 40 East Bengal (Mechanised) Battalion said that based on specific intelligence, they conducted the raid early in the morning.
Inside the coaching centre, they found three firearms and bullets, military-grade binoculars and sniper scopes, locally made arms, seven foreign-made sharp daggers, five high-quality walkie-talkies, a military-grade GPS, a taser gun, local and foreign cartridges, a large number of unused SIM cards, explosive-making equipment, six computer sets, Tk 7,445 in cash, domestic and foreign liquors, and eleven nitrogen cartridges, according to the release.
鈥楾he cartridges were neutralised by the Bomb Disposal Unit as they were fresh explosive materials,鈥� the release stated.
Intelligence agencies had started further investigation, it added.
Gaziur Rahman, Rajshahi Metropolitan Police deputy commissioner for counter terrorism and transnational crime, and media, said that the army handed over the detainees to them.
Filing of a case against them with the Boalia Model Police was underway, he added.