Gulshan attack suspect ‘Rash’ arrested in Natore

Counterterrorism officers have arrested Aslam Hossain Rashed, a key suspect of the Holey Artisan attack, in the northwestern district of Natore.

Rashed, who operated under the alias 'Rash', was arrested from a bus stand at Singra at 5:30am on Friday, said Monirul Islam, the head of police's counterterrorism unit.   

The suspect belongs to the Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh or JMB's revived faction, known to police as the Neo-JMB, said Monirul.

Rashed has been brought to the Detective Branch offices in Dhaka, said Dhaka Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Masudur Rahman.

"He will be taken to court on Saturday and shown arrested in the café attack case."

The early morning raid headed by the counterterrorism unit was joined by officers of the police headquarters' Lawful Interception Centre as well as district police personnel in Bogra and Natore.

Bangladesh witnessed its deadliest terror attack when five gunmen stormed the upscale Holey Artisan Bakery and O'Kitchen inside Dhaka's diplomatic district on Jul 1 last year.

The overnight siege of the Gulshan café left 20 diners dead, 17 of them foreigners. Two police officials died during the operation. The gunmen were eventually shot dead by commandoes.

Eight suspects who were involved in its planning died in several anti-terror raids that followed. Rashed's capture means six suspects were now in custody.   

Police on the first anniversary of the attack said it needed to capture five terrorists before submitting the chargesheet for its investigation.

Of the five, capturing Rashedul Islam aka Rash, Soheil Mahfuz, and Basharuzzaman aka 'Chocolate' was vital, counter-terror chief Monirul had then said.

Then on Jul 8, Soheil Mahfuz, suspected of supplying grenades used in the café attack, was arrested from Chapainawaganj.

Police, after the arrest, were able to confirm the deaths of Basharuzzaman and Choto Mizan during an earlier raid on a terror hideout at Shibganj in April.    

With Rashed in custody, only Hadisur Rahman Sagar from police's list remains at large.

Rash was a close associate to Tamim Chowdhury, the Bangladeshi-Canadian who headed the Neo-JMB, before being shot dead in a police raid following the café attack, Monirul earlier said.   

"As for Sagar, he supplied weapons from Jessore."  

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