Tamim attacked police ignoring calls to surrender during Narayanganj raid, home minister says

The militants, holed up in a house at Narayanganj, hurled bombs and opened fire ignoring police's calls to surrender, says Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal.

Police said Gulshan café attack 'mastermind' Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury and two other suspected militants have been killed when a gunfight erupted Saturday morning during the raid at the city, some 30 kilometres south of capital Dhaka.

"They have been asked to surrender, but they hurled bombs and opened fire," Kamal said while speaking to reporters after visiting the scene. "The mastermind (of Dhaka cafe attack) Tamim and two others have been gunned down during the raid."

Bangladesh Police chief AKM Shahidul Hoque, who was also at the scene, echoed.

"I had instructed to speak with them. They were told to come out with their hands in the air, which means we gave them the option to surrender.

"But they hurled four to five grenades and opened fire, which led the police to retaliate," the inspector general of police (IGP) told reporters at the scene.

Counter-terrorism Unit's Additional Deputy Commissioner Sanowar Hossain, who was a part of the raiding team, told bdnews24.com, "They had fired a lot and lobbed six grenades."

He said two of the grenades exploded, two were found inside the home and another two on the roof of an adjacent house.

A Counter-terrorism Unit team from Dhaka led the raid at a three-storey building at the city's Pikeparha. They were later joined by members of police and the elite unit Rapid Action Battalion.

Around 9:30am, gunshots were heard when Narayanganj's Additional Superintendent of Police Faruk Hossain told reporters at the scene that police were approaching the entrance to the building after a stand-off since early morning.

"Our snipers also fired from adjacent buildings," IGP Hoque said while describing the final attempt to neutralise the suspected militants.

"The final operation to storm the building lasted for an hour. We found three bodies inside. One of them matched perfectly with Tamim's picture and description we have. It's clear that he is Tamim," he said.

Counter-terrorism Unit's senior officer Hossain said that they found two bodies near the entrance of a room in the building while Tamim's body was inside.

"Tamim had grenades while the other two, an AK-22 assault rifle and a pistol," he said adding they were yet to identify the others, but suspect them to be 'key figures' of the militant group.

Home Minister Kamal said they believe that 'a close aide to Tamim' have been killed during Saturday's gunfight.

"Mastermind Tamim Chowdhury and his two accomplices have been killed. We will be able to identify the others after investigations. We believe them be to his close aides."

Police said they made sure that no civilians were inside the building before storming it.

"We did not find anyone else other than these three. We moved in after confirming that there was no one else, including women and children," said IGP Hoque.

After raiding a hideout at Dhaka's Kalyanpur last month, when nine suspected militants were shot dead, police said that Tamim had been in that apartment for a few days.

"According to our information, they rented this accommodation a month ago after the Kalyanpur raid," said the police chief.

Counter-terrorism Unit chief Additional IGP Moinrul Islam earlier told bdnews24.com they found out about the hideout on information obtained from an arrested operative of the JMB (Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh).

"Intelligence agencies said that Tamim was in Narayanganj. According to that information, the counter-terrorism unit and a SWAT team from Dhaka along with the Narayanganj police conducted the raid," said police chief Hoque. 

Police have been claiming Canadian-Bangladeshi Tamim to be the mastermind of the Jul 1 attack at the Gulshan cafe. A reward of Tk 2 million had been also announced for information leading to his arrest.

According to intelligence officials, the 30-year-old had been in Bangladesh since 2013 after he was reported missing from Canada.

Police say he had orchestrated the attack on Holey Artisan Bakery and O' Kitchen restaurant in Gulshan, which left 22 people, including 17 foreigners and two police officers, killed.

Tamim’s name came up on the list of 10 “missing” people released by the authorities after it emerged that Gulshan café killers and the Sholakia attackers had been reported by their families to police as missing.

International media reports, citing several Islamic State publications, have described him as the coordinator of Middle East-based group’s Bangladesh operations.

The Bangladesh authorities, however, maintain that Tamim led the 'Neo-JMB', which emerged after the JMB split. They also rule out any connection between the outfit and the Islamic State.

IGP Hoque, however, said on Saturday that Tamim received training in Syria. "He had come to Bangladesh after being trained in Syria. The Neo-JMB, led by Tamim, was behind the attacks in Gulshan and Sholakia."

Home Minister Kamal said that the 'Tamim Chowdhury chapter ended' with Saturday's raid. "We will be able to nab the rest of the militants soon."