Alleged ‘mastermind’ of Dhaka café attack killed by police

Police in Bangladesh have killed three suspected militants, including an alleged mastermind of an attack on a cafe last month that left 20 people dead.

Top counter-terrorism official Monirul Islam said police raided a two-storey house in Narayanganj, near the capital Dhaka, early on Saturday and killed the suspects.

The dead included Tamim Chowdhury, a Bangladeshi-born Canadian who police believe was one of two masterminds of the attack on a popular restaurant in Dhaka.

The militants belonged to the banned group Jumatul Mujahedeen Bangladesh, or JMB, police chief Akm Shahidul Hoque said.

Chowdhury was the mastermind of the July 1st attack in Dhaka and another attack on an Eid congregation outside Dhaka on July 7th marking the end of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, he said.

Bangladesh police have been conducting raids across the country to hunt down those behind the attack.

The police chief said security officials raided the house acting on a tip that Chowdhury, along with other suspects, was hiding in the building. The suspects opened fire at officials who retaliated, he said.

A Swat team made the final push and fatally shot the suspects after they failed to surrender. Mr Hoque said the team asked them to give themselves up but they continued firing.

The Islamic State group had claimed responsibility for the cafe attack but authorities denied that and said it was the work of the JMB, adding that Islamic State, also known as Isis, has no presence in the Muslim-majority country.

The attack on the upscale Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka killed 20 people, including 17 foreigners. The July 7th attack on the prayer gathering north of Dhaka left four people dead, including two police officers.

AP