Police to run DNA tests as confusion rises over identities of two dead 'militants'

Relatives say the nine militants killed in Kalyanpur raid include youths from their families, but confusion has arisen as two of the families claim one youth as theirs.

Staff Correspondent Chittagong Bureau and Noakhali Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 27 July 2016, 02:03 PM
Updated : 27 July 2016, 07:25 PM

Police released the photos of the dead militants (Parental guidance is advised to see the photo of bloodied bodies) on Tuesday night and sought information on the persons pictured.

Shehzad Rauf Arka alias Morocco, who figures in the list of missing youths suspected to join militants, is among the nine dead militants, his father Tawhid Rauf suspects.

Shehzad Rauf Arka alias Morocco,

But he is not sure whether the sixth person in the combination of photos released by police is Shehzad, DMP Deputy Commissioner Masudur Rahman told reporters on Wednesday.

Sohel Mahmud, the forensic doctor who conducted the post-mortem examinations on the nine bodies, said Tawhid had told him after seeing the body that it has a mole on its nose and a curved ear that are similar to his son.

"But he was not certain that it was the body of his son as he was not so thin," Mahmud said.

Tawhid told reporters the faces of his son and the body of the dead 'militant' were not a total match.

He demanded a DNA test on the body.

"We will conduct DNA test if necessary," the forensic doctor said.

Shehzad was a friend of Nibras Islam, one of the dead Gulshan attackers. Both of them studied in Monash University at its Malaysia campus. They were also accused in a same case at Shahbagh Police Station.

Shehzad's father Tawhid registered a general diary at Bhatara Police Station after he fled home on Feb 6.

Nibras, who studied in North South University, had been missing since Feb 3.

He had been staying with Abir Rahman, the dead Sholakia attacker, and eight others at a house in Jhenaidah.

It is being suspected that Shehzad, a naturalised US citizen, was also with Nibras and Abir in Jhenaidah.
 
A US embassy official also came with Shehzad's father to Dhaka Medical College Hospital mortuary.
 
Sabbirul or Zobayer?
 
Two families, one from Chittagong and another from Noakhali, claimed the eighth person in the photos released by police to be their son.
 
Local Awami League leader in Chittagong Azizul Haque Chowdhury identified the body as that of his son Sabbirul Haque Konik.
 

Sabbirul Haque Konik

Azizul was 'almost certain' that it was his son Sabbirul, a student of the International Islamic University.
He left home five months ago and since then they had no contact with him.
Azizul said he had not filed a report with police as he was ‘angry’ with his son.
Azizul, a former president of the Barumchharha Union AL unit in Chittagong’s Anwara Upazila, told bdnews24.com that his son left home on Feb 21 and did not come back.
“I took no initiatives to bring him back or even file report with police as I was angry with him,” he said on Wednesday.
Azizul says he came to know about his son’s whereabouts after police released photos of the nine persons killed during a gunfight on Tuesday at a militant den in Dhaka.
Azizul, who works at the Chittagong City Corporation, lives with his family at the port city’s Baklia.
No-one was found at that home on Tuesday night, said Baklia police OC Abul Mansur.
But Azizul answered his phone on Wednesday morning. He told bdnews24.com that he was ‘almost sure’ that his son was among the nine.
He says that he had identified his son from the pictures (Parental guidance is advised for juveniles to see the photo of bloodied bodies) released by police on Tuesday night.
Azizul said he has been contacted by members of police, RAB and other intelligence agencies since the incident.
“Our whole family is involved with the Awami League. My elder brother was also a president of party’s the (Barumchhara) Union council unit.

“I have served as general secretary and president for the unit for long. It’s a shame that a member of our family has been involved in such things,” he said, while speaking to bdnews24.com over phone.

Sabbirul, the eldest of three siblings, cleared his school-leaving exams in 2010 and higher secondary exams in 2012.

He then enrolled at the International Islamic University to study economics and banking.

Asked why he did not file a report with police, Azizul said he was angry with his son. “I don’t want to even see him...Will not even go to claim the body.”

Police said they spoke with Azizul on Wednesday.

“We have shown him the pictures. He told us that his son was missing after he had left home for what he said was to attend a wedding. Since then they have failed to contact him,” Superintendent of Police Nure Alam Mina told the media.

Azizul told police that he will go to Dhaka to identify the body, but will not receive it.

One Abdul Kayum from West Maijdi in Noakhali, however, claimed the eighth person in the combination of photos is his son Zobayer Hossain.

The family of Zobayer, a student of Noakhali Government College's political science department, filed a general diary on July 12, saying he had been missing since May 25.

His father Kayum was on his way to Dhaka to identify the body.

He blamed a local Jamaat-e-Islami leader, 'Bahadur', for the 'radicalisation' of his son.

"He first took my son into Shibir (Jamaat's student front). Now he has inspired him to get involved in militancy," he said.

Bahaqdur and Zobayer are cousins.

Bahadur called Zobayer and took him out on May 25 and he had not returned since, Azizul said.

Noakhali Additional Superintendent of Police AKM Zahirul Islam said police had been searching for Zobayer suspecting his link to militants.

"We are also investigating Bahadur," he said.

He asked the families who find their sons among the dead militants to come to Dhaka and identify them.

"We will run DNA tests if they cannot confirm the identities," he added.