Bangladesh police have identified one of the three militants who were killed on Saturday in connection with July’s Dhaka cafe attack that killed 22 people, including foreigners.
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Police spokesman Jalaluddin confirmed to PTI that Bangladesh-born Canadian citizen Tamim Chowdhury was among those killed during the raid, the second major clampdown after the nine suspected Islamist terrorists were killed last month. The men also set off explosions to destroy their computers and other evidence, said Sanwar Hossain, a senior police officer.
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.
Even in a country that has become increasingly numb to Islamist attacks, the Holey Artisan Bakery standoff was particularly jolting in its brazenness.
The alleged suspects opened fire at police but were shot to death by a SWAT team after failing to give themselves up to authorities, the police chief said.
The militants were cornered in an early morning raid on their hideout in Naraynganj, on the outskirts of the capital, and were killed after refusing to surrender, a police spokesman said. The operation went on for an hour, in which the three militants were killed.
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.
So-called Islamic State said it was behind the attack, but that claim was dismissed by the Bangladeshi government.
Global media reports, citing several Islamic State publications, have described him as the coordinator of Middle East-based group’s Bangladesh operations.
“Tamim Chowdhury is dead”.
When police forced their way into the apartment, they found two bodies near the main door, and Chowdhury’s body was found in another room, Hossain said.
Police say Chowdhury has led and financed efforts to radicalise young Muslims since returning from Canada three years ago.
“Tamim Chowdhury’s chapter is closed here”, Home minister Asaduzzaman Khan said.
Police had announced Tk 2 million reward earlier this month for information leading to Chowdhury’s arrest.
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A series of raids on suspected militant hideouts carried out with the Rapid Action Battalion elite security force have killed at least 24 extremists since the cafe attack.
