Both the weapons and funding that militants used to carry out the Gulshan and Sholakia attacks had come from abroad, according to the counter-terrorism unit of Dhaka Metropolitan Police.
The unit’s chief, Additional Commissioner Monirul Islam, on Monday said police had also discovered who had received the money in Bangladesh, but they were yet to figure out who had sent it.
He was briefing the media on the progress made by the police in eliminating extremists and militants at a press conference at the DMP’s media wing on Monday.
Responding to a query, he said, “The money came from outside the country. But we still need to find out whether a Bangladeshi sent it from abroad or the money was sent from inside Bangladesh and different routes were used to bring it back to avoid getting caught.”
“The money was received through hundi. We know the identity of the person who received it here. We are conducting raids to catch that person.”
Monirul did not say how much money was being received by the militants here through hundi. But he said the police had come to know that the JMB militants received nearly Tk 1.4 million once.
“We know that they (militants) have spent that money in buying weapons and renting homes.”
When asked from which country the money had come, the police official avoided divulging any information, saying investigations were still ongoing.
“But we know from where the money was sent. This is one of those countries that are known as hundi hubs. However, we are yet to find out who sent it.”
In the militant attack on Holey Artisan Bakery and O’ Kitchen restaurant in Gulshan on July 1, two police officials were killed when the militants hurled grenades at them. Security forces stormed the cafe later and killed six suspected attackers, freeing 13 hostages in the process.
The bodies of 20 hostages, including 17 foreigners, were found in the cafe during the raid.
The army and police said the militants used AK-22 semiautomatic rifles, 9mm pistols, hand-made grenades or improvised explosive devices and sharp weapons like knives and machetes during the massacre.
A week after the Gulshan attack, police guarding the Eid congregation at Sholakia in Kishoreganj came under attack. Two policemen and a woman died in the attack. A suspected attacker was also killed.
Police said the arms and explosives used in Sholakia were similar to those used in the Gulshan attack. An axe and a machete were found in a nearby pond later.
“The arms crossed the border, but the name of the manufacturing country was not mentioned. So we cannot say which country manufactured them,” Monirul said.
“But they came through India – we’ve known it in investigation,” he added.
He also said the investigators were aware of who had brought in the arms. “Our drive to arrest them is under way,” he said.
Source: Bd news24
