Dhaka – A radical group based perhaps in the Middle East money for two major terrorist attacks – one on a restaurant in Dhaka while the other on a Eid congregation in a northern district – in Bangladesh, an investigator said on Monday.

Monirul Islam, the head of counter terrorism and transnational unit of police, came up with the information while addressing a press conference in Dhaka. He was talking about the progress so far made for investigation on attacks on Holey Artisan Bakery on July 1 and the Sholakia Eid-congregation attack on July 7.

The terrorists who had taken the control over the restaurant in Dhaka’s Gulshan diplomatic zone killed 20 civilians, mostly foreign nations, and two policemen while the army commandos gunned down five terrorist and one chef of the cafe. Four people were killed in Sholakia eid congregation attacks by the radical Islamists.

The counter intelligence officer said that the money (worth about Tk 1.3 million) was channeled to the terrorists through illegal means of Hundi transfer.

He said police have information about the man who received the money at this end.

“We are trying to catch him. Most of the money was spent for renting house and on weapons,” the officer said adding that the route of the arms and money were through India.

Monirul said that his team had identified four other leaders of the militants group which emerged as new JMB (Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, Bangladesh), a group banned in 2005.

He said two of them have already fled to India.

The suspected militants identified as Ripon, Khalid, Bashar and Rajib Gandhi alias Shuvash alias Gandhi.

Ripon and Khalid fled to India, while Bashar and Gandhi are learnt to have been staying in Bangladesh, he said.

Bangladeshi security forces killed at least 14 suspected militants of the group in the last two months as police said the neo-JMB was behind the attacks. But the Islamic State, a radical Islamic group controlling vast swathe of Syria and Iraq, claimed responsibility of the attacks in Bangladesh.

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