1st LD Writethru: Bangladeshi security forces kill mastermind of Dhaka cafe attack

The mastermind of Bangladesh's Gulshan cafe attack and two militants were killed during a raid on a hideout of militants in Narayanganj on the outskirts of capital Dhaka on Saturday, the country's police chief told Xinhua.

Three militants including Bangladesh-born Canadian citizen Tamim Chowdhury were killed during the special operation of the joint forces, said A K M Shahidul Hoque, inspector general of Bangladesh Police.

He said the operation of the joint forces also seized explosives and grenades.

Chiwdhury, a Bangladeshi-Canadian suspected of heading the banned local Islamist outfit Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), along with former army officer Syed Md Ziaul Haque, who has been dismissed for a coup attempt, plotted to attack the cafe.

The attack was carried out on July 1 in Spanish Holey Artisan cafe in Dhaka's diplomatic enclave Gulshan, in which 22 people, mostly foreigners, were killed.

Since early Saturday, law enforcers cordoned off a building on receipt of information that JMB militants were hiding there.

Hoque said the militants fired and lobbed hand-made grenades as policemen and Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) members stormed the hideout.

In retaliation, police also fired at them, said Hoque, leaving three suspected militants dead.

"We've given them an opportunity to surrender," he added.

According to the police chief, both Chowdhury and Haque were also behind the attack near the country's largest Sholakia Eid prayer venue on July 7 and the militants were gunned down in Dhaka's downtown Kalyanpur area during a raid on July 26.

JMB, campaigning for establishment of Islamic rule in Bangladesh, carried out a series of bombing attacks in 63 out of the country's 64 districts, including capital Dhaka on Aug. 17, 2005, leaving two people dead and 150 others injured. Endit