Pro-VC suspended for sheltering Dhaka cafe attackers

The North South University in Dhaka has suspended acting pro-vice chancellor M. Gias Uddin Ahsan following his arrest on charges of sheltering militants before the terror attack on a cafe here.

Atiqul Islam, vice-chancellor of the private university, announced the decision on Monday, bdnews24.com reported.

"The honourable vice chancellor said he (Ahsan) is suspended due to his arrest," Belal Ahmed, a university spokesperson said.

Ahsan, his nephew Alam Chowdhury and Mahbubur Rahman Tuhin, the manager of a house in Bashundhara Residential Area, were arrested on Saturday.

The four were remanded to eight days in police custody on Sunday.

Police said the five militants who carried out the attack on the cafe in the Gulshan area on July 1 had taken shelter in the flat owned by Ahsan.

The other associates of the attackers fled the flat after the siege. Several cartons loaded with sand and the clothing they left behind were seized from the flat.

Police suspect the cartons were used to keep the grenades used in the attack.

Nibras Islam, a former student of the North South University, was among the five gunmen who killed 20 hostages during the overnight siege of the upscale restaurant in the heart of Dhaka's diplomatic area.

Police have also detained as suspect a former teacher of the university who was among the hostages that survived the attack.

VC Atiqul vowed to eliminate the cancer of militancy at a meeting organised by the government over private university students turning to radicalism.

--IANS

pgh/bg