Dhaka cops admit to killing cafe hostage

DHAKA: Bangladeshi police said on Tuesday they were investigating whether security forces accidentally shot dead a kitchen worker when they stormed a Dhaka cafe where attackers killed 20 hostages in an assault claimed by the Islamic State.

Police named five attackers who stormed Holey Artisan Bakery in the Gulshan diplomatic zone on Friday — Nibras Islam, Rohan Imtiaz, Meer Saameh Mubasheer, Khairul Islam and Shafiqul Islam — and said they were hunting for six members of the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) suspected of organising the attack.

Confusion over the number of attackers involved was partly cleared up when police said among the six people killed by security forces when they stormed the café to end a 12-hour siege was pizza maker Saiful Islam Chowkidar.

“We killed six people in the restaurant. A case has been registered against five. The sixth man was a restaurant employee,” top police official Saiful Islam said.

He may not be involved,” he said, adding the investigation was still on. A café employee, shown a photo of a man killed at the eatery and wearing a chef ’s outfit, identified him as Chowkidar and said he had worked there for 18 months.

However, there has been speculation that the attackers could have been helped by someone inside the restaurant, especially in bringing in bags with firearms and sharp weapons they used to butcher the hostages, including a young Indian woman.