Dhaka cafe attack: Mastermind Gandhi on 8-day remand

Jahangir Alom alias Rajib alias Gandhi, one of the main masterminds of Holey Artisan Bakery attack in Dhaka’s Gulshan area, was placed on an eight-day remand by a Dhaka court today.

Gandhi was arrested in Tangail last night in a drive conducted by members of Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, CTTC unit Chief Monirul Islam told The Daily Star in the morning.

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Later, Metropolitan Magistrate Mahmudul Hasan placed him on the remand after CTTC Inspector Humayun Kabir, also the investigation officer of the cased filed over the Dhaka Café attack, produced Gandhi before the court with a 10-day remand prayer.

A wanted criminal, Gandhi is accused in 20 to 22 cases filed in connection with terrorist attacks, the CTTC unit said.

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Gunmen stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery in the capital's Gulshan diplomatic zone on July 1, 2016, and killed 20 hostages, mostly foreign nationals. Two police officials were also killed during the 12-hour hostage standoff.

Gandhi, 35, from Gaibandha district, was involved in killings and terrorist attacks in northern and south-western regions, police said earlier.

He was quite young when he joined the mainstream JMB, which carried out synchronised bomb attacks across the country in 2005.

Gandhi had close connections with Tamim, another mastermind of café siege.