Aide of Gulshan attack suspect Rajib Gandhi killed in police 'shootout'

A close aide of Gulshan cafe attack suspect 'Rajib Gandhi' has been killed in a 'shootout' with police in Bogra.

The 'shootout' took place around 2:30am at Patnoja of Kahalu Upazila when a group of militants opened fire on a police patrol.

As police fired back, the militants fled leaving behind an injured 32-year-old Abu Musa, officials said.

He was later declared dead by doctors at Shahid Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital, said Kahalu police OC Nur Alam Siddiqui.

Hailing from Pabna, Musa was involved in the killings of homeopathy practitioner Mir Sanoar Rahman and grocery shopkeeper Sunil Gomez, said Additional Superintendent of Police Sanatan Chakrobarty of Bogra A circle.

Sanoar, who propagated Baul ideology, was killed at Kushita's Mojompur on May 20, 2016 while Gomez was killed at Natore's Bongram Bazar on Jun 5, 2016.

Musa, who was involved with many crimes, operated under pseudonyms like Abuzar alias Abu Talha, 'Robin', and 'Samiul', said police.

After the gunfight on Monday, police found a pistol, three rounds of bullets and sharp weapons on the spot.

Police said Musa was a close aide to Jahangir Alam alias Rajib Gandhi, the chief coordinator of banned outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) in Pabna, Kushtia, Natore and Sirajganj.

Police arrested Jahangir Alam from Dhaka's Keraniganj on Jan 14.

Musa was one of the plotters of Gulshan cafe attack and was involved in 22 cases of murders and attempted murders including the one of Japanese national Kunio Hoshi in Rangpur, said SP Sanatan Chakrobarty.

He further said Musa was mentioned by Sirajganj militants when they confessed to court.

They were nabbed for training suicide squads, distributing Jihadi literature and extortion in the district, he added.