Dhaka attack financier fled to Syria to join IS

DHAKA: A top Bangladeshi counter-terrorism official said on Tuesday that authorities had identified three men for funding the July 1 attack on a Dhaka restaurant

DHAKA: A top Bangladeshi counter-terrorism official said on Tuesday that authorities had identified three men for funding the July 1 attack on a Dhaka restaurant popular with foreigners, including a pediatrician who fled to Syria to join the Islamic State.

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Monirul Islam, head of police’s counter-terrorism and transnational crimes unit, also told reporters that seven suspected members of a banned militant group had been arrested for alleged involvement in robberies to gather funds for their activities.

He said Rokonuddin Khondoker, the pediatrician identified as one of the financiers of the attack on Holey Artisan Bakery, abandoned his property and left for Syria with his wife, two daughters and a son-in-law last year. Khondoker was a doctor at state-run Dhaka Shishu Hospital.

Five attackers killed 20 hostages, including an Indian and 16 foreigners, in the deadly assault on Holey Artisan Bakery. The three financiers – Khondoker, retired army major Jahidul Islam and Tanvir Kaderi – contributed 8 million taka (more than $100,000) for the attack, police said. Jahidul Islam donated his pension and savings to the banned Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB). Kaderi gave the money from selling his apartment in Dhaka’s Uttara area. Jahidul Islam and Kaderi were later killed in police raids.

Monirul Islam said the three men belonged to the JMB, which has been blamed for many other attacks. The IS claimed responsibility for the July 1 attack, but the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said the JMB was behind the assault.