Mastermind of Dhaka cafe attack killed in police raid

One of the masterminds of Bangladesh’s worst terror attack at a popular cafe here and another top militant behind the murder of a Hindu priest were killed on Friday in a gunfight with police during a pre-dawn raid in the Muslim-majority country.

Neo-Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen’s wanted leader Nurul Islam alias Marjan and another extremist were killed by Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit in Mohammadpur Beribadh area of the capital.

“One is identified as Marjan and another is Saddam Hossain, an accused neo JMB member,” Daily Star newspaper quoted Monirul Islam, chief of Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, as saying.

Police say Marjan coordinated the July 1 attack on Gulshan’s Holey Artisan Bakery that killed 22 people, including an Indian girl.

Saddam was wanted for at least ten murder cases, including Japanese national Kunio Hoshi murder, Jogeshwar Dasadhikari murder and attempt to murder a Bahai community leader in Rangpur, Monirul said.

Jogeshwar was hacked to death during an attack on a temple in Bangladesh s Panchgarh district in February last year.

“Acting on a tip-off, we conducted a raid around 3am...Sensing our presence, the militants opened fire at us.

In retaliation, we fired back that left the two injured,” Monirul said.

Later, they were declared dead when taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

According to an investigator, former Islami Chhatra Shibir leader Marjan was the youngest military commander of the Neo-JMB, a new faction of Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) affiliated with Islamic State, Dhaka Tribune reported.He also had connection with a number of top leaders of the outfit. Marjan had expertise in operating heavy arms. Marjan had stayed in the militant den of Gobindaganj in Gaibandha for a long period where he reportedly gave motivational training to seven militants. Of the seven, five took part in the Gulshan terror attack.

Earlier, on the night of 1 July 2016, five militants took hostages and opened fire on the Holey Artisan Bakery in Gulshan Thana—an affluent area with many embassies in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The assailants entered the bakery with crude bombs, machetes, pistols, and took several dozen hostages (foreigners and locals). In the immediate response, while Dhaka Metropolitan Police tried to regain control of the bakery, two police officers were shot dead by the assailants. 29 people were killed, including 20 hostages (18 foreigners and 2 locals), 2 police officers, 5 gunmen, and 2 bakery staff. As the police were unsuccessful in breaching the bakery and securing the hostages, they set up a perimeter along with the Rapid Action Battalion and Border Guards Bangladesh.

Next morning, a joint commando force stormed the bakery, killing all the attackers and rescuing the captives, ending the terror siege of nearly 11 hours. The assault was led by the 1st Para-commando Battalion, an elite force in the Bangladesh Army and the counter assault was named Operation Thunderbolt.