Staff Reporter :
Shariful Islam alias Khaled, the last man of the eight charge-sheeted accused was arrested in the Holey Artisan Café attack case.
With him, all the eight charge-sheeted accused in the Dhaka café attack case have been arrested.
Earlier, a RAB team arrested Khaled in Haripur area of Nachole upazila in Chapainawabganj on Friday afternoon, Mufti Mahmud Khan, Director to Legal and Media wing of the RAB, told the reporters at a press briefing at the RAB Media Centre in the city’s Kawranbazar on Saturday.
One of the masterminds in the Holey Artisan café attack in 2016, Khaled used to play vital role to select attackers in any killing mission, the RAB official said. He was also a finance collector and a trainer for the members of JMB .
He was a meritorious student before he got involved with banned militant outfit Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), the RAB officials said,
Khaled passed SSC and HSC examinations with GPA 5 from science group in 2008 and 2010 respectively, he said.
He dropped out from his study when he was a third-year student of English Department in Rajshahi University in 2013 and became involved in the militant group, the RAB official said.
Apart from his involvement in Holey Artisan attack, Khaled also led the killing of Prof Rezaul Karim, a teacher of RU English Department, on April 23 in 2016, said Mufti Mahmud Khan.
Khaled was sentenced to death by a Rajshahi court on May 8 last year in the case.
On January 20, the RAB arrested another fugitive militant Mamunur Rashid alias Ripon from Gazipur.
Like Ripon, Khaled also took part in a meeting of top JMB leaders in Gaibandha in February 2016 when the Gulshan café attack was planned, law enforcers dealing with militancy said.
He along with Ripon went to India in April 2016, just three months before the café attack in which 20 hostages and two police officials were killed on July 1, 2016. Khaled also provided money to the JMB leaders before the attack, officials said.
Meanwhile, a Dhaka court on Saturday placed Khaled on a six-day remand in connection with a case filed under the Anti-terrorism Act.
The case was filed by RAB-1 Deputy Additional Director (DAD) Mofizul Islam with Mugda Police Station.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Sadbir Yasir Ahsan Chowdhury passed the order after Md Salauddin, Assistant Superintendent of Police also investigation officer of the case, produced Khaled before the court with a ten-day remand prayer.
On the other hand, RAB has arrested two suspected members of MB in Rangpur.
They were picked up by RAB members from Pirjabad area of the city Friday evening.
The detainees are Md Azizul Islam Salehi, 30, hailing from Panihara village in Panchagarh Sadar upazila, and Md Shahnewaz Islam Nishat, 26, of Pirjabad in Rangpur Sadar upazila, said RAB-13 Assistant Superintendent of Police (media wing) Ahsan Habib.
