Police to charge 14 over Hotel Olio blast
The charge sheet has been forwarded to the home ministry for clearance
Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit have moved to press charges against 14 operatives of the banned militant outfit “New JMB” over the suicide blast that took place at Hotel Olio International at Panthapath in Dhaka on August 15, 2017.
“We found involvement of 15 militants, including Saiful Islam who died in a blast during the raid. Charge-sheet against the 14 has been finalized. Of them, 10 have given confessional statements to the court,” said Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) CTTC chief Monirul Islam, reports Bangla Tribune.
The charge sheet has been forwarded to the home ministry for clearance, he added.
The 14 suspects to be charged are Akram Hossain Khan Niloy, the mastermind of the attack, Tanveer Yasin Kabir, Abu Turab Khan, Sadia Hosna Lucky, Humaira Zakir Nabila, Tazreen Khanam Shubh, Abdullah alias Aychan Kabiraz, Abul Kashem Fakir, Lulu Sardar alias Shahid Mistul Hasan Mumon, Tajul, Najul, Kamrul Islam Shakil, and Tarique Md Adnan.
Saiful, 21, a member of New JMB blew himself up on August 15 at Hotel Olio International, on Panthapath, situated only about 300m away from the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum.
The incident took place just three hours after President Md Abdul Hamid, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and other high-ups of the government had paid their respects to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at the museum, in Dhanmondi, on National Mourning Day.
The CTTC had moved to prevent a possible suicide bomb attack on a procession observing National Mourning Day on August 15, the day Bangabandhu and most of his family were brutally assassinated in 1975.
According to investigating officers, Niloy, who was the then-chief New JMB, planned the attack and instructed Saiful to take position at the hotel. The militants used “Dark Web and Telegram channel” to communicate among themselves, they said.
A day before the CTTC raid, the outfit’s explosive expert suspect Mamun supplied explosives to Saiful at the city’s Abdullahpur area. Later, Saiful checked in to the hotel with a suicide vest to carry out an attack on the crowd who joined August 15 memorial.
Niloy was the mastermind of the blast while Tanvir, Abu Turab, Sadia, Humayira, and Tazreen were financiers of the attack, Monir said adding Nabia, Abu Turab, Sadia, Tazreen, and Niloy came from the same family.
“This whole family was involved in militancy,” the police official added.
Of the 14, Abul Kasem, Lulu Sardar, and Tazul Islam have been charged with supplying bomb-making materials, said Monir adding that Nazmul made the bomb at a Dhaka den.
Meanwhile, Abdullah, Kamrul and Tareque, and Abdullah alias Aychan face charges on cooperating and sheltering the militants, said Monirul.
