JMB carried out Dhaka cafe, Sholakia attacks: Police chief

As investigations into the terror attacks at the Gulshan cafe and the Eid grounds at Sholakia are underway, Bangladesh police chief A.K.M. Shahidul Haque said on Saturday that the attacks were carried out by militants of the banned Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).

When asked about the involvement of Islamic State (IS) in the attacks, the Inspector General of Police said that the IS claimed the responsibility of every attack wherever it took place.

"We can't find any link as to why they (Islamic State) do it," said Haque, reported The Daily Star.

Police had been looking for the five Gulshan cafe attackers for a long time, the IGP said, adding that the law enforcers had information about them.

"They were JMB members," the IGP said.

"We primarily found evidence of JMB's link with the Sholakia attack," he added.

An injured man, who was detained in connection with the Sholakia attack, admitted that they had contacts with the attackers of the Holey Artisan Bakery, the police chief added.

A case is likely to be filed in connection with the Sholakia attack that left four people dead on Eid day, Haque said, adding that "In the Sholakia attack, one attacker was killed and another was injured."

Quoting the policemen who were present at the terror site during the attack, IGP Shahidul said, "Five to six men took part in the attack but several other persons might have assisted them. We are trying to detain them."

On July 1 terrorists killed 22 people, including 17 foreigners and two policemen, shortly after taking a number of hostages at the Holey Artisan Bakery cafe and O' Kitchen Restaurant in Dhaka's diplomatic zone.

Six militants were also killed during the incident and one was captured alive.

A day after the brutal killing, IS claimed responsibility for the Gulshan cafe attack, according to US-based Search for International Terrorist Entities (SITE) Intelligence Group.

Barely a week later, the terror attack at the Sholakia Eidgah took place, claiming the lives of four people, including two policemen, as hundreds of thousands gathered for Eid congregation on Thursday morning.

On Wednesday, a day before the Sholakia attack, Sirajul, father of Abir Rahman, the suspected attacker who died in a gunfight with police at Sholakia in Kishoreganj, had filed a complaint at Bhatara Police Station over his son going missing.

As per the General Diary missing complaint, Abir, a student of North South University, had been missing for four months since March 1, police said, quoting his family, reported bdnews24.com.

Asked why they were filing the GD after so many days, police informed the local media that Abir had left home upset about the disagreement over his going abroad, as he wanted to go to Malaysia and his father wanted to send him to Australia and so his father assumed that he must have flown to Malaysia and would return.

"He (Sirajul) said he came to police as suspicion tickled his mind after the Gulshan attack," added police.

--IANS

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