The Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit has prepared a charge sheet accusing 10 people in the clash between law enforcers and militants during a crack down at the capital’s Kalyanpur area in 2016.
“We have sent the charge sheet to the home ministry and will produce it in court as soon as the ministry gives approval,” said CTTC Deputy Commissioner Mohibul Islam Khan.
Among the ten accused in the case three are on the run while the rest are behind the bars, having been arrested at different times, he said.
Nine militants were killed on July 26, 2016 when the joint forces conducted the operation Storm-26 in the multi-storied “Jahaj Building” on road No. 5 at Kalyanpur.
A man named Rakibul Hassan Regan was arrested while another managed to escape during the operation.
During the raid, the police forces seized photographs of other militants as well as ISIS flags. Five out of the nine dead militants were supposedly about to carry out an attack similar to that of the Holey Artisan Bakery that happened on July 1 same year.
Law enforcers suspect that the den was mainly used as a training centre.
They term the operation in 2016 as a ‘wake up’ call for themselves. It was the first anti-militant crackdown by police forces after the terrifying Holey Artisan attack of July 1, 2016. They said that had they been unsuccessful in neutralising the militants, another such massive attack would have been carried out.
The law enforcers just after the incident filed a case with Mirpur police station accusing seven people under the Anti-Terrorism Act. The charge sheet was readied after two-and-half years of investigation in which the CTTC accused 10 people.
The accused are: Rakibul Hassan Regan, 21, Salah Uddin Kamran, 30, Abdur Rouf Pradhan, 63, Aslam Hossain alias Abu Jarra, 20, Shariful Islam alias Khaled, 25, Mamunur Rashid Ripon alias Mamun, 30, Azad Kabiraj alias Biplobi, 28, Mufti Mowlana Abul Kashem alias Boro Huzur, 60, Abdus Sobur Khan alias Sohel Mahfuz, 33 and Hadisur Rahman Sagar, 40.
Among the above ten, Shariful Islam Khaled, Mamnur Rashid and Azadur Kabiraj are on the run but CTTC sources said that they suspect Mamunur and Khaled have been hiding in India for quite a while.
Sources familiar with the investigation said that three people among the seven against whom the case was filed initially are- Iqbal, Junayed Khan and Badal. CTTC is yet to get their hands on their details but it is suspected that among them Jubayed along with his brother Ibrahim Hassan have gone to Syria in order to join ISIS.
The 11 dead militants who have not been charged are: Motaleb alias Abdullah Rony, Abu Hakim Nayeen, Taj-ul-Hoque alias Rashik, Akifuzzaman Khan, Rayhan alias Raihanul Kabir Tarek, Matiur Rahman, Jubayer Hossain, Shezad Rouf alis Arko ---- all dead during the raid at Kalyanpur. The other two-Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury was killed during a militant raid in Narayanganj and Sarwar Jahan Manik was killed while trying to escape RAB in Ashulia.
In addition to that Ahmed Azam alias Omi, Akash alias Babu, Habibullah, Kabirul Islam and Mizanur who were shown arrested in the case have not been charged either.
An official familiar with the case said that according to the charge sheet the accused are part of ‘Neo-JMB,’ a revived faction of banned militant outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).
The official said that the Neo-JMB carries out terror attacks throughout the country including- attack of various foreign nationals as well as Bangladeshis living in diplomatic zones. The attacks are carried out in order to endanger the solidarity, public safety, sovereignty as well as paint a vulnerable image of Bangladesh globally.
