Their fingerprints matched, say police; DNA tests will be conducted later
The militants were killed in a special drive codenamed “Storm-26” in the early morning on Tuesday.
Police started a block raid in the neighborhood and stumbled across the den on the fourth floor of the house named Taj Manzil, locally known as Jahaj Building.
Before striking the hideout, police captured a suspected militant named Rakibul Hasan Reagan, with bullet injuries in the head and fractured leg, from the neighbourhood around 1:30am.
The raid came in the wake of two back-to-back attacks — the July 1 Gulshan siege and the Eid day attack near the Sholakia Eidgah.
Law enforcers had been on high alert after the two deadly attacks, and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina herself twice warned of further militant attacks in the past two weeks.
It all came following three years of targeted attacks by suspected militants, killing secular writers, publishers, secular bloggers, university professors and member of minority communities, including Christians, Hindus, Buddhists and Shia Muslims in the Sunni-majority country.
Terror group Islamic State took credit for many of the past attacks, including the Gulshan siege where militants killed 20 hostages, 17 of them foreigners.
The government insists IS has no presence in the country.
Those killed on Tuesday were in black outfits and red-white scarves similar to the ones five Gulshan attackers were wearing in the IS photos posted by SITE Intelligence Group.
The black outfit and the scarf are often seen in pictures of IS militants in the media.
Islamic State’s another trademark symbol is its black and white flag with Arabic lettering. Black cloths resembling the IS flag were also found at the Kalyanpur flat.
DETAILS OF THE SEVEN
Abdullah, 23, son of Sohrab Ali of Vallabpur village of Nababganj in Dinajpur; Abu Hakim Nayeem, 33, son of Nurul Islam of Kuakata village of Kalapara in Patuakhali; Taj-ul-Haque Rashiq, 25, son of Rabiul Haq of Dhaka’s Dhanmondi; Atiquzzaman Khan, 24, son of Saifuzzaman Khan of Dhaka’s Gulshan; Shazad Rouf Arko, 24, son of Touhid Rouf of Bashundhara, Dhaka; Md Motiar Rahman, 24, son of Nasiruddin of Omarpur village of Tala in Satkhira; and Md Jubayer Hossain, 20, son of Abdul Quaium of Paschim Maijdee village of Shudharam in Noakhali.
AUTOPSIES
Each of the nine was hit by seven to eight bullets, according to autopsy findings.
“Most of the bullets struck them on their backs,” Sohel Mahmud, assistant professor at Dhaka Medical College’s forensic department, told reporters.
They were shot neither from a very close range nor from a long distance, the doctor added.
There were no other injuries on their bodies.
Doctors have kept samples of their blood, hair, urine and viscera body tissues for further tests such as if they were on drugs and for DNA sampling.
The two other doctors who accompanied Sohel during the autopsies are Kabir Shohel and Prabir Biswas.
According to the doctors, the nine died around 5:00am on Tuesday.
HOUSE OWNER’S WIFE REMANDED
Momtaz Parveen, wife of the house owner, was placed on a two-day remand yesterday.
Metropolitan Magistrate Nurun Nahar Yasmin passed the order after Sub-inspector of Mirpur Model Police Station Bozlar Rahman produced her before the court, seeking five days’ remand.
A defence lawyer sought cancellation of the remand prayer and appealed to the court for granting her bail.
The court granted the remand petition as the house owner did not provide police with the information of the tenants, said the SI.
Earlier in the day, Momtaz was shown arrested on suspicion under section 54 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
Source: The Daily Star
1. Those killed on Tuesday were in black outfits and red-white scarves. Black cloths resembling the IS flag were also found at the Kalyanpur flat.
2. Each of the nine was hit by 7-8 bullets, according to autopsy findings.
3. “Most of the bullets struck them on their backs,” Sohel Mahmud, assistant professor at Dhaka Medical College’s forensic department, told reporters.They were shot neither from a very close range nor from a long distance, the doctor added.
4. There were no other injuries on their bodies. According to the doctors, the nine died around 5:00am on Tuesday.
( abv needs some explanation ).