Dhaka Police close to concluding Gulshan terror attack probe

Dhaka Police investigators have said that they are close to wrapping up their probe of the July 1, 2016 terror attack on the the Holey Artisan Bakery in the upscale suburb of Gulshan, where many embassies are located.

It maybe recalled that at least five assailants entered the bakery with crude bombs, machetes, pistols, and took several dozen hostages, including foreigners and locals.

In all, 29 people were killed, including 20 hostages (18 foreigners and two Bangladesh citizens), two police officers, five gunmen and two bakery staff.

The counter-terrorist operation was managed by the police, the Rapid Action Battalion and the Border Guards Bangladesh under the code name Operation Thunderbolt. The assault was led by the 1st Para-commando Battalion, an elite force in the Bangladesh Army.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) claimed responsibility for the incident, but Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan stated that the perpetrators belonged to Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen and were not affiliated with ISIL.

The incident was the worst terrorist attack in Bangladesh's history.

Police on Sunday said that they have identified almost all the people who were involved in the deadly terror attack three months back.

According to the officials of the police's Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit they have made significant progress in the investigation. The field-level coordinator, financiers and arms suppliers for the July 1 attack have been identified and they are carrying out operations to arrest those, reports the Dhaka Tribune.

The mastermind of the attack, Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury, was killed in a raid in Narayanganj on August 27.

Investigators are saying that they are analysing the laptops and mobile phones of the arrested and dead militants.

During the investigations, they have come to know that the members of New JMB have established a network outside Bangladesh. They got the financial support and arms from abroad to conduct the Gulshan attack.