Mastermind of Dhaka cafe attack, 2 others killed in Bangladesh

Mastermind of the Dhaka cafe attack along with two other militants were killed on Saturday during a raid in the Bangladeshi capital, officials said.

Monirul Islam, chief of Dhaka Metropolitan Police counter-terrorism unit, confirmed the news The Daily Star and said the raid was conducted upon information gleaned from an arrested operative of the banned Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).

A joint team from Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit, police headquarters and district police cordoned off a house in Narayanganj Sadar area on information that a gang of militants including the mastermind Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury were staying there, Mainul Haq, superintendent of Narayanganj police, told The Daily Star.

The gunfight erupted this morning after police started raiding a building at Naraynganj's Pikeparha," Counter-terrorism Unit's Additional Deputy Commissioner Sanowar Hossain was quoted as saying by the bdnews24.Com.

As the law enforcers tried to enter the house, the criminals opened fire from inside, Haq said.

Canadian-Bangladeshi Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury had been identified by police as the mastermind of the July 1 attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery, when 22 people, including 17 foreign nationals and two police officers, were killed.

Police had announced 2 million Bangladeshi Taka reward earlier this month for information leading to his arrest.

Tamim's name came up on the list of 10 missing people released by law-enforcers after it emerged that the cafe killers and Sholakia attackers, who attempted a raid on the largest Eid congregation in Bangladesh, had been reported missing by their families.