DHAKA, March 6 (Xinhuanet) -- The people of Bangladesh were singing and dancing on Monday in the streets to celebrate the arrest of Bangla Bhai, the second top chief of banned Islamic extremist group Jama'tul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).

    Some giving reactions to television channels thanked the government and congratulated the security forces, especially the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), the elite anti-crime force, who made the arrest possible.

    One of the people interviewed by Ntv demanded that Bangla Bhai should be hanged because he killed many people in the name of Islam.

    People in northern Mymensingh, who lost their 18 relatives in cinema bomb blasts three years ago have been dancing in the streets after hearing the arrest of Bangla Bhai, the second-in-command of JMB.

    The cinema bomb blasts are widely believed to be made by the Islamic extremist militants.

    Bangla Bhai was arrested by security forces from Chechua village of Muktagacha under Mymensingh, about 150 km from Dhaka on Monday at about 7:20 am local time (1:20 gmt) after getting information from his wife arrested with two other militants of JMB on Sunday night from Mymensingh town, the capital of Mymensingh district.

    The intelligence service of RAB acting on information from Abdur Rahman, chief of JMB, who was arrested five days ago and now being interrogated, raided a house in the town and arrested wife of Bangla Bhai and two other militants of JMB.

    According to their confessional statement, the security forces raided the Chechua village Sunday night and arrest Bangla Bhai Monday morning after a gunfight.

    Bangla Bhai was seriously wounded in a blast of a bomb, which blew up the tin-roof of the house where he was staying.

    Bangla Bhai also fired some shots at the security forces, which injured a RAB sergeant. The injured sergeant has been flown to Dhaka and admitted to the garrison hospital in the capital.

    The bomb blast by Bangla Bhai also injured his bodyguard and another militant. Bangla Bhai was taken to Mymensingh Medical College Hospital, where he was operated for 45 minutes. From hospital he was flown to Dhaka and admitted to Dhaka's main hospital Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

    Bangla Bhai, who heads a Islamist group Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB), is blamed with Abdur Rahman for the series of bomb blasts and suicide attacks that killed 28 people in this second largest Muslim country and injured hundreds since August 17last year.

    Both Rahman and Bangla Bhai were convicted by a court in southern Barisal last month and awarded them 40 years each in prison.

    The government in September last year announced prize money of five million taka (one dollar equals to about 70 taka) each for helping arrest of both Rahman and Bangla Bhai who were on the run since August 17 last year.

    The government banned both the Islamist groups in February last year. Enditem