Staff Reporter :
Police will finalise the charge-sheet of Gulshan café attack case on completion of the interrogation of Aslam Hossain Rashed, a key ‘Neo JMB’ militant, who is one of the planners of the last sensational carnage on July 1 last year.
“The investigation into the case reaches the final phase with the arrest of the key Neo JMB militant,” Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit Chief Monirul Islam said while briefing journalists at DMP media centre on Saturday.
“We will finalise the charge-sheet after getting information from Rashed after grilling during remand at the custody of the law enforcers,” said Monirul, also Additional Commissioner of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP).
If Rashed gives confessional statement under Section 164, the law enforcers will take help from the statement also, the CTTC chief said. Rashed alias Rash, 20, allegedly a close aide to chief coordinator of ‘Neo JMB’ Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury, was arrested by the law enforcers early Friday. He oversaw the arms training of Gulshan attackers, according to the officials.
He was placed on remand after producing before a court with remand prayer on Saturday.
Metropolitan Magistrate Nurunnahar Yasmeen passed the order after Rashed was produced before the court with a 10-day remand prayer by Inspector Humayun Kabir of the CTTC.
“After Rashed’s arrest, we are now trying to arrest another ‘Neo JMB’ leader Hasidur Rahman Sagor alias Joypurhat Sagor, who played vital role in the attack,” the CTTC chief said.
“Although he (Sagor) is on the run, we are sure he is in the country,” he added.
Earlier, Monirul had said that they would be able to submit the charge-sheet after the arrest of five ‘Neo JMB’ leaders who played vital roles in the attack.
The five are: Sohel Mahfuz, Mizanur Rahman alias Chhoto Mizan and Hasidur Rahman Sagor alias Joypurhat Sagor, Basharuzzaman Chocolate and Rashed alias Rash.
Of the five, Sohel was arrested by CTTC on July 8 in Chapainawabganj. Chocolate and Mizan were killed in an anti-militancy raid on a ‘Neo JMB’ hideout in the same district on April 27.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia said they arrested Rashed based on information from Sohel Mahfuz, who supplied bombs for the Gulshan café attack.
According to CTTC sources, Rashed joined ‘Neo JMB’, an offshoot of banned outfit Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh, at the end of 2015 and later became the coordinator of its training programmes.
Meanwhile, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) claimed to have detained three suspected militants of “Sarwar-Tamim group of banned militant outfit Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh” in Fatullah of Narayanganj on Thursday night, said Lt Col Kamrul Hasan, Company Commander of RAB-11.
The detainees were identified as Waliullah Chishti alias Abu Omar, 27, of Muradnagar in Comilla; Al Amin Sheikh Rajib, 25, of Mollarhat in Bagerhat; and Kamrul Hasan Hridoy, 35, of Debidwar in Comilla, the RAB official said.
The detainees have confessed that they were operatives of the Sarwar-Tamim group of the banned militant outfit, he said.
During the drive, the team also seized one foreign made pistol, one foreign made revolver, five rounds of bullet, two knives, explosives and Jihadi books and leaflets, he added.
