S M Mizanur Rahman :It has been two weeks since the deadly terror attack in city’s Gulshan café, but the mastermind behind the most dreadful carnage in the country’s history still remains untraced. However, several intelligence sources claimed that the mastermind behind the attack had already been identified and they are undergoing interrogation in the custody of intelligence agencies. When contacted on Thursday, Banaj Kumar Majumder, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police Investigation Bureau (PBI), which deals with the militancy, said there is no headway in their probe into the deadly terror attack.”We are working on it. The mastermind behind the deadly terror attack in city’s Gulshan café still remains untraced,” he said. The terror attack at Holey Artisan Bakery in the capital’s Gulshan diplomatic enclave left 29 people killed, including two police officers, 17 foreign nationals and at least five militant suspects.One of the suspects Mohammad Shaon, also the cook’s assistant of the café, held during the July 1st terrorist attack, died in police custody at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital on Friday.Hasnat Karim, a British citizen, and also former teacher of North South University and Tahmid Hasib Khan, a student at the University of Toronto detained during the army-led ‘Thunderbolt Commando’ operation. They are considered vital for the investigation into the July 1 attack. But mystery shrouds whereabouts of the two detainees as their families saying they haven’t returned home while authorities announcing they are not in custody. The families of Hasnat Karim and Tahmid Hasib Khan have sought information on their whereabouts and rights group Amnesty International has urged the government to clarify.Police said they had earlier questioned Karim and Khan but they were no longer in their custody.Amnesty said Karim’s family was taken into custody by police for questioning on July 2, and all, except Karim, were released on July 3.”Hasnat Karim’s family must immediately be told whether the Bangladeshi authorities are still holding him in custody, and if so allow him contact with the outside world. They have already suffered a traumatic episode, and his enforced disappearance prolongs their ordeal,” said Champa Patel, Amnesty International’s South Asia Director.”The Bangladeshi authorities have a poor track record when it comes to human rights in custody, with violations including torture and other ill-treatment often to obtain ‘confessions’ and the denial of medical treatment,” Patel said.Masudur Rahman, a spokesman for Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said on Wednesday that they were not aware of the whereabouts of Karim and Khan. “They are not in our custody,” he said without elaborating.Inspector General of Police AKM Shahidul Hoque said that the banned militant outfit, Jama’atul Mujahedeen Bangladesh (JMB), launched the terror attack at the Gulshan restaurant on July 1.He also said that they detained two suspects identified as Tahmid Hasib Khan and Hasanat Reza Karim, a former teacher of North South University.On the night of July 1, at least five young attackers entered the café with firearms, explosives and sharp weapons and took more than 35 hostages. They killed 17 foreigners and three Bangladeshis.A case was filed with Gulshan police on July 4 and the Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crimes unit of the DMP handed over the charge immediately. All the 13 survivors were questioned by the law enforcers and released before the Eid-ul-Fitr.Police first published five photos identifying them as Akash, Bikash, Don, Badhon and Ripon. Their identities were later confirmed as Meer Samih Mubasshwer, 19, Rohan Imtiaz, 20, Nibras Islam, 20, Khairul Islam Payel, 22, Shariful Islam Ujjal alias Bikash, 26 and Saiful Islam Chowkidar, 40.A total of 86 pieces of evidence were collected from the spot. The Islamic State (IS) claimed the attack but the police said homegrown militants carried out the attack.Meanwhile, five people were arrested from Jhenidah over suspected links to the terrorists who attacked Holey Artisan Bakery in the capital’s Gulshan.Nibras Islam, the terror killed during the army led operation, used to live in a rented house at Sonipara in Jhenidah district.Nibras Islam along with seven to eight youths used to reside the house owned by former Army Sergeant Kawsar Ali Mollah.Bilkis Nahar, wife of Kawsar Ali Mollah told the local journalists that Nirbas introducing himself as Sayeed rented the house and lived there for four and a half months. “But he had remained missing since June 28. A special squad of police team from Dhaka came here and arrested my husband Kawsar Ali Mollah, two sons Binchar Ali Mollah and Benzir Ali Mollah. They also held Hamdah Sonipara mosque Imam Rokonuzzman and one Abdur Rob,” she said.She said they were taken to the Jhenidah RAB camp on Eid day and were interrogated. “But I know nothing about their whereabouts,” Bilkis Nahar said.Meanwhile, bodies of the five Gulshan café “attackers” are still at the mortuary of Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Dhaka as no one came to receive those till Thursday, police said. Four of the militants were identified as Nibras Islam, Rohan Imtiaz, Meer Sabeh Mubasheer and Khairul Islam Payel while another was unknown.Apart from the five bodies, the body of chef Saiful Islam, who is also a FIR-named accused, are at the mortuary of the hospital. However, police said only Saiful’s family verbally wanted to take his body but the law enforcers are yet to receive any written application from them.
