Three suspected militants have been killed in a shootout with Bangladeshi police – including the alleged planner of a terror attack that left 22 people dead.
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“We can see three dead bodies here”, senior police officer Sanwar Hossain was quoted in a report by AFP.
Talking to reporters at the scene, the Inspector General of Police said the operation was carried out under codename Operation Hit-strong 27 in which polices elite SWAT conducted the main part.
According to the police chief, both Chowdhury and Haque were also behind the attack near the country’s largest Sholakia Eid prayer venue on July 7 and the militants were gunned down in Dhaka’s downtown Kalyanpur area during a raid on July 26. The operation went on for an hour, in which the three militants were killed.
As the law enforcers tried to enter the house, the criminals opened fire from inside, Haq said.
Police admitted mistakenly shooting the pizza chef dead as they stormed the building, initially saying six attackers had been killed but later revising the number to five. Bangladesh authorities did acknowledge that JMB – the sprawling terror network that has pledged allegiance to IS – was likely behind the café attack.
Officials have said that Chowdhury helped the attackers with safe houses and weaponry and accompanied them as they made their way to the upscale cafe-bakery the evening of July 1.
“We’ve recovered 20 bodies”.
Police had announced Tk 2 million reward earlier this month for information leading to his arrest.
The suspects were killed after a shootout near the capital Dhaka.
The police has denied the involvement of Islamic State in the cafe attack and instead blamed Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, which has pledged allegiance to the group active in Syria and Iraq, for organising the assault.
“Hasnat is a loving and devoted father and husband and we will continue to cooperate with the authorities to secure his release”, a statement from Mr Karim’s relatives said.
In June more than 11,000 people were arrested in a bid to quash a spate of brutal murders of secular writers, gay rights activists and religious minorities.
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Critics say Hasina’s administration has been in denial about the nature of the threat posed by extremists and accuse her of trying to exploit the attacks to demonise her domestic opponents.
