Militant Tanvir's son, killed in Ashkona raid, used to 'preach militancy' among local teenagers

Slain militant leader Tanvir Qaderi's teenaged son, who blew himself up during a raid on a militants’ den in a Dhaka suburb, used to preach militancy among teenagers in the area, local people have said.

"He usually visited me in my home if I could not meet him. He sang religious songs and spoke about jihad. He requested me to stay overnight with him to talk about religion," said a local boy.

"We played together...badminton, cricket...he (Shahid) often took me to his home," the boy who lives near 'Surjavilla' told bdnews24.com without giving his name.

He also said Shahid called him on Feb 15 and urged to join the jihad.

"Come to the path of Islam, take the gun, we'll have to wage a jihad," he quoted Shahid as telling him on that day.

The boy also said he saw a man aged between 35 and 40 years and two other women in the house, but could not identify them.

"People regularly visited the house. Some of them came in cars and microbuses," he said.

A teenager told bdnews24.com that Tanvir's son was known as Shahid Qaderi in the area.

Shahid died when he detonated a grenade on himself during the raid, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan told the media in the afternoon. The operation began very early in the morning.

On Sep 10, his father Tanvir was found dead inside a house raided by the law enforcers at an Azimpur flat in Dhaka amid mounting anti-militant drives following the July 1 terror attack on a cafe in Gulshan. Police said he had committed suicide.

Shahid's mother Abedatul Fatema alias Khadija and his twin brother were arrested during the Azimpur raid. Shahid could not be traced at the time.

After over three months, the counterterrorism unit of police conducted a raid on the three-storey building in Ashkona on a tip-off that Shahid was hiding in a house in the building, the unit's chief Monirul Islam told the media.

Besides Tanvir's son, three women and three minor girls were in the house during the raid.

They were identified as slain militant Jahidul Islam's wife Jebunnahar Shila and her daughter, militant leader Musa's wife 'Trishna' and her daughter, militant leader Sumon's wife, and militant leader Iqbal's daughter.

Jebunnahar and her daughter, and Trishna and her daughter surrendered to police around 9am before the police bust into the building.

Sumon's wife came out to the garage around 1pm with Iqbal's 4-year-old daughter. She blew herself up by using an improvised suicide vest. The child survived the blast but received splinter injuries. She was rescued and taken to hospital.

But Tanvir's son did not give up, Home Minister Kamal said.

"Police lobbed stun grenades when he defied repeated calls for surrender. He then fired at police and at one stage exploded a grenade inside the house. Later he was found dead," Kamal said.

Tanvir, who grew up in Gaibandha, did his Bachelor’s with Honours in accounting from Dhaka College and post-graduation from a private university.

He had worked in two private firms before joining Dutch-Bangla Bank Limited’s mobile-banking department.

But Tanvir left the job after returning from Saudi Arabia in 2014 and launched his own business – Al Sakina Home Delivery Service.

He married Fatema from Brahmanbarhia in 2001. She was working in Save the Children after graduating from Dhaka University. Police said she was also involved in militancy.

She blamed her husband for what she did and asked for ‘forgiveness’ during a court hearing.

Police said since the killing of the suspected mastermind of the Gulshan cafe attack, Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury, in a raid in Narayanganj in August, Tanvir had been coordinating Neo-Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (Neo-JMB).

The group has been blamed for the July 1 Gulshan terror attack that killed 22 people, mostly foreigners.