Police struggling to identify attacker who killed a security man at Bangladesh’s main airport

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The youth, named ‘Shihab’, has never been seen before at the airport area, police say.

Meanwhile, Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon will brief the media at a conference on Tuesday over the attack at Bangladesh’s main airport.

The counterterrorism and transnational crime unit would be drawn in to investigate the matter as the authorities are considering a security breach at the country’s main airport.

An APBN official earlier told bdnews24.com that the counterterrorism unit would be assigned to deal with the matter.

In the knife attack on Sunday evening, Shihab injured two members of on-duty Ansar men and two Armed Police Battalion personnel. Two of them were injured in the attack, of which one succumbed to his injuries.

Shihab was also injured during the attack and is undergoing treatment under police guard at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

Referring to an interrogation after the arrest, Airport Police Station Inspector Ezaz Sharif told bdnews24.com: “He initially only said his name is Shihab. He could not tell us his detailed identity.”

Several law-enforcing agency officials told bdnews24.com they were trying to identify the youth in various ways but failed to do so until Monday night.

Ezaz said, “We tried to get information about him using various sources, but the youth has never been seen in airport area before.”

Shihab entered the airport, wearing a yellow t-shirt like the workers of AK Traders, the firm appointed with the cleaning job of the airport.

APBN Assistant Superintendent Tanjila Akter told bdnews24.com they were sure that Shihab was not a worker of AK Traders.

The firm’s supervisor for airport Masud Rana also said the t-shirt the youth was wearing was not theirs.

“He has never been seen at the airport,” he said.

Some media outlets also reported that Shihab was ‘mentally ill’, but DMCH surgeon Jesmine Nahar said, “He did not seem to have any mental disability. His words are normal.”

She said the youth had wounds on his head and right leg when he was brought to the hospital. “His condition is better than before.”

Earlier on Monday, Ansar’s airport Platoon Commander Ashraful Alam started a case against Shihab over the attack.

APBN, the force tasked with ensuring the airport’s security, has formed a three-member committee headed by its Additional DIG Hasib Aziz to investigate the attack.

Source: Bd news24