Police believe man killed in blast near airport is 'missing' Mirpur youth Ayad

Police say that the man killed in the blast outside Dhaka international airport is likely to be one of the two cousins 'missing' from of Mirpur.

Airport Police Station OC Noor-e-Azam Mia told bdnews24.com on Sunday that the police 'nearly identified' the young man.

After a newspaper had reported that the family identified him as one of the two 'missing' cousins, Ayad Hasan Khan, bdnews24.com contacted his mother, Munmun Ahmed.

"Kafrul Police Station OC has asked me not to say anything. I can't say anything," she said.

Asked whether the person killed in the blast was Ayad, Kafrul Police Station OC Shikder Mohammad Shameem said, "There is still some confusion."

Police's counterterrorism unit Additional Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Sanwar Hossain said, "We initially suspect that he is Ayad. But the work for the confirmation is still under way."

The families of Ayad and his cousin Ahmed Rafid Al Hasan filed General Diary or GD when the two left home at Monipur in Mirpur in August last year. They reportedly left behind a note saying, "We have found our path." The duo have not been found yet.

Airport Police Station Sub-Inspector Yasin Khandaker, who started a case over the blast near the entrance of the airport, told bdnews24.com that police were trying to identify the suspect using a mobile-phone found on the body.

Three bombs were found in a trolley bag the youth was carrying during the blast on Friday evening.

Police initially suspected that a bomb in the bag went off as he took extra precautions after seeing police personnel at the police box on the opposite side of the entrance of the airport. Forensic doctors confirmed after the post-mortem examination that explosives were strapped to the body.

DMP chief Asaduzzaman Mia, however, ruled out any possibilities that it was an attempt of a suicide attack.

SI Yasin said "It can't be he made bombs alone. Someone else might have made the bombs and sent him to transport those. He might have been a member of any banned group."

The blast in front of the airport police box came a week after a suicide attacker was killed at a RAB camp in the same area. Another suspected suicide attacker was shot dead by RAB personnel at a check post in Khilgaon on the following day.

The law enforcers are yet to identify any of the three.