Dhaka hotel raid foiled attack on Aug 15 mourners, says IGP Hoque

The suspected militant, who blew himself up during a counterterror raid on a Dhaka hotel, was planning to attack National Mourning Day events at the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum, says the police chief.

The suspect identified as Saiful Islam from Khulna had planned to launch a suicide bomb attack at Dhanmondi Road 32, Inspector General of Police AKM Shahidul Hoque said at a media briefing on Tuesday.

"The plan was to murder hundreds of people taking part in processions for the mourning month at Dhanmondi Road 32 with suicide explosions."

A raid was conducted at Panthapath's Hotel Olio International by counterterror and SWAT personnel on the morning of National Mourning Day.

The hotel is located some 300 metres away from the museum where mourners gathered to pay respects to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, assassinated with most of his family members in a military putsch 42 years ago.

A loud explosion was heard from the hotel at 9:45am, followed by gunfire.

The explosion caused a section of the wall on the fourth floor to collapse onto the street below. Saiful's remains were later found in the debris on the fourth floor.

The dead militant’s father Abul Khayer Molla is the Imam of a local mosque in Khulna's Dumuria Upazila, said IGP Hoque. A treasurer for Jamaat-e-Islami in Sahash Union, police said he was detained for questioning in the hours following his son's death.

“Saiful was a madrasa student and later enrolled into the BL College in Khulna city. He had also been involved with the Shibir.”

Islami Chhatra Shibir is the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, the party which had actively opposed Bangladesh's War of Independence.

Several of its leaders are now facing trials for war crimes or have been sent to the gallows by the war crimes tribunal.

"He would not have planned another tragedy on National Mourning Day if he had not belonged to Jamaat-Shibir," said IGP Hoque.

“The same people who conspired to kill Bangabandhu were involved in planning this attack on the anniversary of his death. But police have foiled the plot."

Saiful, who once belonged to Shibir, was working as an operative for neo-JMB, said Monirul Islam, head of police's counterterror unit.

Neo-JMB is a term used by police to refer to a revived faction of the Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh, an outlawed extremist group.

‘Militant’ dead in raid on Dhaka hotel

Police were able to trace Saiful to the hotel while probing a "plan to launch a large-scale attack" in August, he said.   

When asked if police knew of more plans to stage attacks during the ongoing month, he said, "We become more cautious during August, a lot has happened as you know.”

"Bangabandhu was killed during this month. Then you have the Aug 21 bombing from 2004. The following year we saw the series bombing on Aug 17. We have taken security measures across the country with that in mind."

The suspect detonated two explosives during the raid, Police Counterterrorism Unit Additional Deputy Commissioner Sanwar Hossain told bdnews24.com.

The bomb disposal unit also found an explosive-filled bag inside the room, which was later destroyed in a controlled explosion, he said.

"The bomb was detonated without bringing it out of the bag. We have searched inside but found no other bombs or weapons. Now bomb disposal team is working at the scene."

Police are now conducting searches in nearby areas following the raid on the hotel, Assistant Inspector General (Confidential) of Police Moniruzzaman told bdnews24.com.