Neo JMB militant kills himself in Dhaka hotel raid

A suspected militant of the Neo JMB group blew himself up with his suicide vest during a raid by security forces on a hotel in Bangladesh's capital city on Tuesday, police said.

The man, identified as Saiful Islam, killed himself during the raid on Hotel Olio International, despite repeated requests to surrender, police chief A.K.M. Shahidul Hoque was quoted as saying by bdnews24.

The law enforcement agencies cordoned off the hotel after the bombing.

A portion of the hotel's fourth storey collapsed and fell on the road in the explosion.

The man was a neo-JMB militant, Hoque told the media after inspecting the scene. Law enforcement agencies had received information regarding the man during an investigation, he said.

"We did not hear any sound from the room during the raid. We asked him to surrender, but he didn't. He set off a suicide vest and died."

"He is a member of neo-JMB and was previously a member of Shibir. His father, Abul Khaer Mollah, is a Jamaat leader in Khulna," he said.

Islami Chhatra Shibir is the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami.

The hotel is located less than one km away from the memorial museum of Bangladesh's founding President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who was assassinated on August 15, 1975 along with 13 members of his family.

A man was also injured in the explosion. The person was attempting to withdraw money from an ATM machine near the building when a piece of brick from the blast struck him in the head, police said.

The bomb disposal unit entered the fourth floor of the building and was checking for explosives.

Bangladeshi President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday led the nation in paying homage by placing wreaths at the portrait of Bangabandhu installed in front of the memorial museum.

--IANS

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