Staff Reporter :
Physicians found multiple bullet marks on the bodies of ‘mastermind’ of Gulshan terror attack Nurul Islam Fahad alias Marzan and his accomplice Saddam Hossain.
“They (Marzan and Saddam) died of bullet injuries. Besides, we have recovered three bullets from the each body during the postmortem and they were killed in police firing,” Assistant Professor Sohel Mahmud, Head of the Forensic Medicine Department of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) told journalists after conducting autopsies of the bodies on Saturday.
Asked whether the militants had taken any drug before they were killed, the forensic expert said it could be known only after receiving the report of chemical analysis of their blood.
The physician also said the samples of blood and hairs also have been collected from the bodies for viscera and DNA. The bodies will be kept at the DMCH mortuary.
Marzan and his associate Saddam were killed in a gunfight with members of Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) at Beribadh in the city’s Mohammadpur area early Friday.The CTTC’s Sub-Inspector Asgar Ali on Friday filed a case with Mohammadpur Police Station in connection with the alleged gunfight and the case statement said that the third “militant” fled the scene. The third “militant” was not named.
Meanwhile, Inspector General of Police AKM Shahidul Hoque on Saturday said that Marzan was involved in the most the militant attacks launched in capital Dhaka and northern parts of the country.
“We had information that Marzan would enter Dhaka through Mohammadpur Beribadh area. So, we set up a check post in the area. And at last Marzan along with another militant Saddam Hossain appeared the scene,” he told journalists on the sideline of the inaugural session of a two-day “International Conference on Terrorism in the Wave of Islamic State” on Dhaka University campus.
Replying to a query about the exact number of the militants involved with the ‘Neo JMB’, Shahidul Hoque said, “Most of the militants were either killed or arrested by law enforcers.”
He stressed the need for setting up a de-radicalization and rehabilitation centre to bring back the militants to their normal life.
“Militants always try to spread their religious beliefs amongst people . . . A de-radicalization and rehabilitation centre will be set up to help them in returning to their normal life,” he said.
He further mentioned that the misguided people were the members of home-grown militant organizations including Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) and Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI), who want to change the political ideology through violence.
Subsequently, the IGP told journalists that the members of law enforcement agencies would be able to nab the militant kingpin Major Zia like others as they continue their combined drives.
He added that police will now track down terror financiers and backers.
“The fugitive militant will be detained soon,” he said.
Replying to a query, he said, “As we have enough evidences regarding the Holey Artisan bakery or other attacks, the deaths of Gulshan café attack’s mastermind Marzan and his cohort Saddam will not hamper our efforts in countering militancy.”
The IGP said the drive will continue until militancy and terrorism are rooted out completely from the country.
Marzan allegedly coordinated the Gulshan café attack while Saddam Hossain alias Rahul led “Neo JMB” activities in the northern region.
Marzan was next in the rank to top Neo JMB coordinator Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury while Saddam was wanted in at least 10 murder cases, including that for the killing of Japanese national Kunio Hoshi in Rangpur and Jogeshwar Das Adhikari in Panchagarh.
