US State Dept yet to confirm if Shazad a US citizen

John Kirby, a spokesperson for the US State Department.

The US Department of State is yet to confirm if Shazad Rouf Arko, one of the nine killed in early Tuesday’s Kalyanpur operation, is a US citizen.

Police earlier told The Daily Star that Shazad, an MBA student of North South University (NSU), had US citizenship though the newspaper could not verify it independently.

During the daily press briefing in Washington DC on Thursday, State Department Spokesperson John Kirby said, “I have seen reports that a US citizen was killed in a police raid in Dhaka.”

“We understand that there’s an ongoing law enforcement investigation on the matter, and so I’d refer you to local authorities for more detail on that,” he told a questioner.

“I can only confirm that we’ve seen reports that a US citizen was killed in a police raid in Dhaka,” the spokesperson told the questioner when insisted repeatedly for confirmation of Shazad’s US citizenship.

When the journalist asked again “Aren’t you trying to find out?” Kirby said, “And out of respect for the privacy of those affected … we’re going to decline further comment.”

Earlier on July 1, an American citizen with Bangladeshi origin was brutally killed along with 22 others in a militants attack at a Gulshan cafe.

BLOCK RAIDS INTENSIFIED

Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) intensified the block raids it began during Ramadan in the wake of the attack on Holey Artisan Bakery in Gulshan.

“The block raids at different randomly selected parts of the capital will continue rigorously,” Deputy Commissioner (Media) Masudur Rahman told The Daily Star.

Officials of different police stations, however, said the raids are being conducted mostly in areas where bachelors and student messes are housed.

Police raided 11 buildings at East Rajabazar, Panthapath and on Indira Road from 10:30pm on Thursday to early hours of Friday.

GG Biswas, officer-in-charge of Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station, told The Daily Star that the raids mainly targeted apartments housing students.

He added that nobody was detained in the hours-long drive.

Earlier, officer-in-charge of Mohammadpur Police Station Jamaluddin Mir said 60 members of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) conducted a block raid at Mohammadpur’s Nobodoy and Turag housing areas from 11:00pm on Wednesday to 4:00am on Thursday.

He said they searched about 30-35 buildings.

He added that cops also checked whether apartment owners provided police with information regarding their tenants.

Meanwhile, investigators have been questioning detained militant suspect Rakibul Hasan who is under treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, said Deputy Commissioner Masudur Rahman.

There is a splinter in Hasan’s right leg and a surgery will be needed, said DMCH Deputy Director Khwaja Abdul Gafur.

Early Tuesday, police started a block raid in Kalyanpur and stumbled across the militants’ den on the fourth floor of a house known as Jahaz Building. They killed nine militants staying at the den.

Before striking the hideout, police captured Rakibul around 1:30am.

Inspector investigation of Mirpur Police Station Sajjad Hossain said a case filed in this connection was transferred to Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit of DMP.

Investigators have been examining evidence found at Holey Artisan Bakery and the militant den at Kalyanpur, said Deputy Commissioner (Media) Masudur Rahman of DMP.

He added they are trying to find out whether the militants exchanged information using mobile devices.

Meanwhile, Rahela Begum, mother of Raihan Kabir, another militant killed at Kalyanpur, told journalists that she would ask for the body of her son for burial.

Source: The Daily Star

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