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Investigators suspect that the three local militant groups who carried out the Gulshan terror attack were assisted by several foreign extremist groups as well as some home-grown militant leaders now staying abroad.
The unified platform was established in 2014 as agreed by the detained top leaders of banned outfits Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), Ansarullah Bangla Team and Hizb ut-Tahrir at Kashimpur High Security Jail, as their aim is the same – establishing Islamic rule in the country by uprooting the democratic forces.
But the detectives have learnt about their joint activities after the Gulshan terror attack that killed 22 people mainly foreigners and injured over 40 people. They think the attack was launched based on an order issued by the detained leaders recently.
Five attackers were killed in an operation in the morning of July 2 to end a nearly 11-hour hostage situation. International militant group Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack and identified the five as their members.
After the attack – unprecedented in the country where militants have been operating since 1992, the law enforcers said it was an act of the JMB. However, several intelligence sources later said that it was a combined operation.
Sources close to investigation told the Dhaka Tribune that the home-grown groups might have been assisted by some extremist organisations operating in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Several other top militant leaders now staying in Pakistan and Malaysia could be behind the operation.
The investigators are yet to solve the puzzle but claimed to have identified some of the planners and coordinators, and two financiers.
The names of top tier leaders now coming out include Maj (sacked) Syed M Ziaul Haque and Ejaz Ahmed of Ansarullah; Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury, who is coordinating the IS members in Bangladesh; Tehzeeb Karim, working for JMB; and Rezaur Razzak, a private university teacher who played key role behind the revival of JMB and formation of Ansarullah.
The militants who coordinated the Gulshan attack include JMB chief Salauddin alias Salehin, who was snatched from a prison van in 2014; and its leaders Solaiman and Rajib alias Shanto alias Adil.
Current location of these leaders could not be confirmed.
On the other hand, Ansarullah chief Jasim Uddin Rahmani, former JMB chief Saidur Rahman, Harkat-ul Jihad al-Islami chief Abdur Rouf, and some other top militant leaders are in jail.
They were kept in separate cells at Kashimpur jail after the Gulshan attack as they used to meet each other frequently. Moreover, they were brought under 24-hour surveillance, said a senior official at the jail headquarters.
A high official of an intelligence agency, requesting anonymity, said that they had so far come to know about the involvement of some home-grown militant leaders and supporters who are out on bail or staying abroad.
“Some of them returned home recently. But we are yet to get any clue on the direct link of any foreign militant group with these local organisations,” the officer told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
The three youths spotted in an IS video calling for more attacks were members of Ansarullah and Hizb ut-Tahrir. Investigators claim the video was shot in a border area of Pakistan, though the IS said it was from Raqqah of Syria.
The inspector general of police, AKM Shahidul Haque, too suspects that there is an international conspiracy behind the Gulshan and Sholakia terror attacks.
DMP Commissioner Asaduzzaman Miah recently said that they could not confirm any foreign link, but did not brush away a possible connection. All the attackers were Bangladeshi and they were recruited and trained in Bangladesh, he said.
Foreign groups behind unified platform
Investigators now suspect that some foreign militant groups might have worked to bring the local organisations under the same platform, and they facilitated training for the attackers and also extended financial support.
To get a clear picture of the highly complicated case, the law enforcers have started creating a list of missing persons to track their location and association with local and foreign militant groups that include Lashkar-e-Taiba, Tehreek-e-Taliban and Jaish-e-Mohammed.
Detectives in November last year arrested four JMB members including Idris Sheikh, who was linked to Pakistani High Commission official Farina Arshad. After Idris had mentioned Farina’s name in confessional statement saying that she used to assist JMB members in spreading militant activities, the Pakistan government withdrew her from Dhaka.
Earlier, more than a dozen members of these Pakistan-based groups were arrested in Bangladesh in 2008 and 2009.
The link between Hizb ut-Tahrir, JMB and Jaish-e-Mohammed was exposed in 2010.
Local operatives with foreign link
The Bangladeshi militants who were staying abroad but might have a link to the Gulshan attack include Mohammad Saifullah Ojaki alias Abu Musa, who went missing from Japan. He used to work as an associate of IS recruiter and trainer Aminul Islam Baig, arrested in Dhaka last year.
Intelligence sources claim that another suspect Tehzeeb Karim was arrested three years back by the detectives in Dhaka, but he left the country after securing bail. He is the brother of Rajib Karim – a JMB member and IT engineer of British Airways who was jailed in 2011 for plotting to blow up a plane.
Both the brothers were involved with a Dhaka-based NGO named Research Centre for Unity Development (RCUD). This NGO had link to local militant groups including JMB and foreign militant groups like Jamayatul Muslemin and al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) of Yemen. Tehzeeb went to Yemen and established link between his brother and AQAP chief Anwar al-Awlaki.
Tehzeeb’s name has appeared on the list of 261 missing people published by RAB.
Intelligence sources also named Prof Rezaur Razzak as the key player behind RCUD. While teaching at a private university in Banani area, Razzak first helped spread the activities of the JMB, but later launched the Bangladesh chapter of Jordan-based Jamayatul Muslemin. He was also closely associated with Rahmani.
At least two members of the RCUD – Redwanul Azad Rana and Junun Sikder – were involved in the murder of Ahmed Rajeeb Haider in 2013.
Another key suspect behind the Gulshan terror attack is Bangladesh-origin Canadian citizen Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury. Investigation sources said that he might be working to maintain communication between the local groups and Islamic State through his links in Afghanistan.
Even IS’ propaganda magazine Dabiq in its April edition mentioned him as its chief in Bangladesh. Tamim left Canada in 2013 and his current location is unknown.
His name is also on the RAB’s list of missing persons.
- See more at: http://www.dhakatribune.com/banglad...an-attack-under-scrutiny#sthash.RxWjqj0l.dpuf
