Sensing that Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury and his two aides had no plan to surrender and were destroying key evidence, law enforcers launched the offensive on the militant’s den in Paikpara of Narayanganj Sadar upazila this morning, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Counter terrorism unit Sanwar Hossain said.
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After the operation, police entered the house and found three bodies inside the house, the police said.
Islam said Chowdhury’s arrest was a major milestone because he was responsible for radicalizing the youths involved in the cafe attack as well as others who attacked worshipers July 7 at an Eid celebration.
The attack on the upscale Holey Artisan Bakery killed 20 people, including 17 foreigners.
The police raid came two days before US Secretary of State John Kerry is set to arrive in Bangladesh, the highest-ranked Western official to visit the South Asian nation since the attack. The wire service reports that police believe he returned to the country in 2013 and was coming from Abu Dhabi.
He added: “The operation went on for an hour. It’s clear that he is Tamim”, Bangladesh Police chief AKM Shahidul Hoque told the media after the raid. Four people died in that attack, including two police officers. Those include killings of secular bloggers and publishers by machete-wielding assailants as well as the slayings of several foreigners, gay rights activists and members of minority religious groups.
“Tamim Chowdhury’s chapter is closed here”, Home minister Asaduzzaman Khan said.
Police on August 2 announced a two million taka ($25,000) reward for information leading to the arrest of Chowdhury, who disappeared after the attack.
Police say Chowdhury has led and financed efforts to radicalise young Muslims since returning from Canada three years ago.
“Three extremists were killed”.
The three suspects were holed up in a house on the capital’s outskirts, the head of Dhaka police’s counterterrorism unit told Reuters.
Bangladesh police have been conducting raids across the country to hunt down those behind the attacks.
Both IS and a branch of Al-Qaeda have claimed responsibility for numerous attacks.
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Now, Bangladeshi authorities say Chowdhury is “a leader of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, a new branch of the domestic terrorism outfit that produced the café attackers and is affiliated with the Islamic State”, as The Washington Post reported.
