The Islamists, who carried out Bangladesh's terror worst attack at a cafe in Dhaka, had slaughtered all the 20 hostages within 20 minutes of the brazen assault, a top police official said.
Bangladesh on Tuesday pressed anti-terrorism charges against several suspects and identified the fifth assailant in the country's worst terror attack as authorities intensified efforts to unravel the plot behind the brazen assault in which 22 people were slaughtered by Islamists.
As the militants entered the popular hangout for foreigners in the capital's diplomatic zone of Gulshan and held dozens of people hostage inside, Gopal tried to reach his elder brother Soumir, who works at the restaurant, over the phone. reports the Daily Star.
"The others were tortured by the gunmen," Rezaul Karim, father of Hasnat Karim who was held hostage inside Holey Artisan Bakery in the diplomatic zone for over 10 hours was quoted as saying to The Daily Star.
Inspector General of Police AKM Shahidul Haque, however, did not disclose the identities of either of the detainees or where they were being kept.
13 of the 17 militants who were presumed to have plotted the attack were killed in encounters so far, said police.
Two of the five Bangladeshi attackers, who hacked to death 20 people at a restaurant in Dhaka's diplomatic zone used to follow three controversial Islamists, including Indian Islamic preacher Zakir Nayek.
The mortal remains of Indian teenager Tarishi Jain, who was among those hacked to death by Islamic militants in a terror attack at a Dhaka restaurant, will be brought in New Delhi on Monday, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said.
Reza told reporters that the attackers were armed with firearms and bombs as they entered the restaurant and took customers and staffers hostage at gunpoint.
"The five terrorists killed at Gulshan (cafe) were JMB members. The police had their details and been looking for them for a while," Inspector General of Police AKM Shahidul Haque told media persons.
'This was a government that wanted nobody outside Bangladesh to know that they were simply inept and run by a highly authoritarian leader who was afraid of any criticism towards herself.'
The essence of the film is in its simplicity. All the characters in the film look real. You can find them in your neighbours, colleges, cafes, theatres, observes Hemant Waje.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday vowed to trace the "roots" of the culprits who supplied weapons and explosives to the terrorists who killed 20 people, mostly foreigners, in a barbaric attack on a cafe in Dhaka.
Canadian-Bangladeshi Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury and his two associates were killed during an encounter at the militants' hideout.
"Stop killing people in the name of Islam", Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday said as she vowed to do everything to eliminate terrorists from the country after 20 foreigners were killed in an attack on a cafe in Bangladesh claimed by the Islamic State terror group.
All educational institutions in the country will give lists of students who have been absent for over 10 straight days.
Tarishi, according to the minister, was 19-years-old. She passed out from American School Dhaka. Presently, she was a student at Berkeley.
'If a bloodbath of this nature can occur in a high security area like Gulshan, I shudder to think how vulnerable other parts of this country are.'
'I have noticed how a certain country wants to establish the presence of ISIS in Bangladesh.' 'Are these terrorists working under some religious inspiration or they are being lured by an obnoxious amount of money?' 'For some mysterious reasons, no action is taken by the government against suspicious organisations.'
"A seal from a factory in Bihar was found on the three AK22 rifles recovered after the Gulshan terror attack," Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime chief Monirul Islam was quoted as saying by the Dhaka Tribune.
All the hostages killed during the 12-hour siege by Islamic State terrorists were foreigners, with most being Italian or Japanese.
The suspected terrorist arrested from Viswabharati fast passenger train at Burdwan station has links to terror groups Islamic State and Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, a top Crime Investigation Department officer said on Tuesday.
Nine Italians, seven Japanese, one Indian, one Bangladeshi American and two Bangladeshis were among the 20 killed in the terror attack at Holey Artisan Bakery in Gulshan on Friday night.
Sources told Rediff.com that the terrorist captured alive provided information about the absconding terrorists.
The attackers were from well-known schools with Western curriculum for the children of the well-to-do in the city, not from any of the madrassas that are often termed as breeding grounds for militants.
Authorities have been questioning Naik from last two days over his intent to provoke a peace breach by allegedly making remarks against Hindus and Chinese residing in the Muslim-majority nation.
Neo-Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen's wanted leader Nurul Islam alias Marjan and another unidentified extremist were killed by Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit in Mohammadpur Beribadh area of the capital.
The five terrorists in the video, believed to be recorded sometime before the Gulshan attack, made statements to justify their stance, criticising the democratic system and political leaders.
Faraaz Hossain, 20-year-old, was one such extraordinary human being as he chose to die at the hands of the terrorists rather than leave his friends alone.
The terrorist was killed during a raid on a house in Dhaka's Rupnagar area and was identified by police as top Neo-Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh leader Chowdhury's 'second-in-command'.
A British national and a student of a Canadian University have been arrested for their alleged involvement in Bangladesh's worst terror attack at a cafe in Dhaka last month that killed 22 people, including an Indian girl.
The move came amid media reports that militants, especially members of the Islamic State, are popping addictive pills, which help "fuel their fury", before attacking the victims.
The chief of the terror group blamed for Bangladesh's worst terror attack at a Dhaka cafe was among the four Islamist militants killed in one of the country's longest anti-terror operations in Sylhet, police said on Tuesday.
Jamaat-Ul Mujahideen Bangladesh activist Mohammed Masiuddin alias Abu Musa has been questioned by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Kolkata to probe a possible conspiracy being hatched by his Syria-based handler Sultan Abdul Kadir Armar to target American assets and nationals.
Acting deputy vice chancellor of a private university has been arrested in Dhaka along with two others for sheltering militants who carried out Bangladesh's worst terror attack at a cafe in which 22 people were killed by suspected Islamic State militants.
Mahathir Mohamad's statement came a day after the ministry of external affairs said that the extradition request of Naik made by India is under the active consideration of the Malaysian government, as per the media reports.
Everything about ISIS had indicated that this would be a violent Ramzan. A violent, divisive Ramzan sends out exactly the message that ISIS wants to send to religious Muslims outside its folds: It plays on their faith and fears, says writer Tabish Khair.
'My son used to pray five times a day from a young age. But we never imagined this. There was nothing at home, no books or anything to indicate he was leaning that way, So we had no inkling,' he said.
'A deadly combination of money and religion lures them into the murky world of terrorism.' 'You will reach heaven if you kill -- what a doctrine!' Professor Ajoy Roy, whose son blogger Avijit Roy was brutally murdered in Dhaka last year, tells Rediff.com's Indrani Roy.
Rohan Ibne Imtiaz, the son of S M Imtiaz Khan Babul, a leader of the party's Dhaka City chapter and Bangladesh Olympic Association's deputy secretary general, has been identified as one of the attackers by another Awami League leader, BD News reported.