Dhaka cafe attack plotter put on 15-day remand

An extremist accused of being a mastermind of Bangladesh's Dhaka cafe attack that killed 22 hostages last July was sent for physical remand for 15 days on Monday.

Police got 15 days to quiz Jahangir Alam alias Rajib Gandhi after he was produced before the court of Bogra's senior judicial magistrate in two separate cases, Xinhua news agency reported.

One case in Bogra district, some 197 km northwest of Dhaka, implicates Alam with a blast on April 3, 2016 which killed two people. The other case implicates him with the recovery of lethal weapons and explosives in June last year.

Bangladeshi police arrested Alam in January from the country's central Tangail district, some 97 km away from capital Dhaka.

A police officer said Alam was wanted in 20 to 22 cases filed in connection with terrorist attacks in recent years.

Alam maintained close connections with many already arrested and killed cafe attacker designers, the officer added.

Bangladesh police have reportedly so far hunted down and killed at least 40 militants linked to the cafe attack, including mastermind Tamim Chowdhury who was killed in a police raid on August 27.

--IANS

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