Dhaka, Oct 6 (IANS): The leader of the military wing of a banned Islamist militant group in Bangladesh was killed in a grenade blast on Tuesday, a day after his arrest in the port city of Chittagong.

Mohammad Javed, 26, chief of the military wing of Jamaat-ul Mujahideen (JMB) and a textiles engineer by profession, was arrested during a search operation at a house in Chittagong's Khawaznagar area on Monday evening. Four other JMB activists were also arrested earlier in the day.

Babul Akter, additional deputy commissioner of Chittagong police's Detective Branch, told bdnews24 that Javed was killed while he accompanied police in a raid during the wee hours of Tuesday.

"That is when a grenade exploded and killed Javed. Three policemen also suffered injuries," Akter said.

Nine hand grenades, 120 rounds of ammunition, a pistol, 10 knives and a large quantity of bomb-making materials were also recovered during the raid.

According to sources, Javed was involved with the banned militant outfit since 2012.