Sagar Biswas :
Police are yet to make any headway to trace the mastermind involved in the Thursday’s gun attack at Al Mostafa Jam-e-Mosque [Shia mosque] in Bogra though seven persons so far have been netted from different parts of the country in connection with the bloody incident.
Not only that, the police are yet to unearth the motive, whether it is political or religious, whereas the self-styled Islamic State [IS] has reportedly claimed responsibility of the attack as per news served by US-based network SITE Intelligence Group.
Home Minister Asaiduzzaman Khan Kamal on Saturday again boldly rejected the claim of IS, and said a vested quarter is trying to destabilise the country in the name of IS.
“It needs just five minutes to dispatch a message from Middle East to US, if there is any occurrence in this country. And then, the US-based website SITE Intelligence says it is done by IS. ….But there is no existence of IS in Bangladesh. They are trying to destabilise the country and also create division among us using the name of IS,” the Minister said.
Sources close to the Police Headquarters yesterday said that the investigators are now particularly putting emphasis on the possible involvement of JMB [Jam’matul Mujahedin Bangladesh] operatives in the attack at Shia mosque. Senior police officials said that the suspected arrested persons are mostly linked with JMB.
Three more suspects were arrested by Rapid Action Battalion [RAB] on Friday raising the number of total arrestees to seven in this connection. Earlier, four suspects were arrested on Thursday late night soon after the attack on the Shias.
The residences of three suspects, arrested on Friday, are situated near the crime spot [Shia mosque]. But the investigators refused to divulge the details for the sake of investigation. Police, however, started investigation to know whether they were involved with JMB, sources said. But two other arrestees, Principal of Molamgari Emdadul Ulum Madrassa Shamshul Islam and another one teacher of same institution Abu Hasan did not open their mouths, sources added.
When contacted, Superintendent of Police in Bogra
Mohammad Asaduzzaman said, “Of the arrestees, Anwar Hossain and Jewell Mia have been taken on seven-day remand. The third accused ShamsulIslam, has been sent to police custody for five days. Anwar, is from Dampara village under Shibganj upzila in Bogra and Jewell Mia is a student of Alim course at the local Aladipur Madrassa.”
The SP said, “Anwar was earlier arrested in 2010 for his alleged involvement with JMB. At this moment Anwar is highly suspected for his previous JMB link. Besides, we are also investigating whether Jewell is involved with JMB or not.”
About progress of the investigation, the SP said, “In fact, we are yet not sure who had conducted the attack as there is no significant information divulged by the arrestees till the date.”
Sources said the investigators are confirmed that the number of attackers was three, aged between 22 to 25 years. Of them, one received injuries in the leg or waist when he jumped from a high boundary wall to escape the scene after completing the operation.
“The paddy field adjacent to boundary wall of mosque was 5/6 feet high. So, one of the assailants probably got injured in the leg when he jumped from the wall,” Additional Police Super of PIB [Police Bureau of Investigation], who is also Investigation Officer, said yesterday.
Meanwhile, a tense situation has been prevailing in the Shia Muslim community in Bogra following the Thursday’s attack although the entire area has been brought under close security surveillance of police and other security agencies. After the attack, the members of Shia community are offering their prayer at local Imambari as the whole mosque is now cordoned by Crime Scene Unit and other departments for collecting evidence.
In this situation, the authorities concerned has taken all out security measures to Shia mosques and other establishments in the capital and across the country to avert further untoward incident,” Muntasirul Islam, Deputy Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said.
A muezzin [Moazzem Hossain] was killed when gunmen opened fire at a Shia mosque in Shibganj upazila of Bogra on Thursday evening. Three others were also received bullet injuries including the mosque’s Imam during the shootout.
It was the second bloody attack on the Shia Muslim community in Bangladesh within a span of a month. Earlier on the day of Ashura, the assailants bombed a Shia procession in Old Dhaka leaving one dead in spot and several others injured.
Inspector General of Police AKM Shahidul Hoque said, “Islam doesn’t support killing people in the name of Zihad. The government has taken zero tolerance policy in tackling militants. There is no room for militants in this country. About 21 militants so far have been hanged after trial.”
