New Delhi: Blaming Pakistan for the Dhaka restaurant terror attack in which 20 hostages were hacked to death, Commodore (Retd) Ranjit B Rai called on the Indian intelligence agencies to cooperate with that of Bangladesh to find whether there is convergence of Islamabad in the deadly attack.
Speaking to ANI, Rai said that Pakistan does not want to see Bangladesh remain a secular country, which is Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s dream ever since her father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was murdered.
“This is the time of India with his intelligence agencies must co-operate and help with the big data of they have on actions of Pakistan, whether there is convergence of Pakistan in a big way of-course it is in a small way but whether it is in a big way in Dhaka attack,” he said.
“So question is the Dhaka attack were actually the Jihadis got up and they ask people to recite the Quran and those who could not recite the Quran were hacked to death 20 of them, I think many of them foreigners, Italians. Now this is absolutely the act of Jihadi, the Madrasi, the radicalized suicide bomber,” he added.
Earlier, Bangladesh Information Minister Hasanul-Haq Inu said that the attack on the innocent people was made to embarrass the government and create a political situation which ferments conspiracy.
“This is an attack by the home-grown terrorists of Bangladesh and they are out to unsettle the elected constitutional government and install a pro-religious fundamental government,” he said.
The Minister also asserted that the attack did not have any link with any international terrorist organisation.
“It is totally a home-grown terrorist network, but there is a fashion nowadays across the world, wherever there is attack, the attackers boast that they are connected with IS, Taliban or Al Qaeda,” he said.
Speaking about the involvement of ISI, he said that the investigation agency of Pakistan did have connections with the Jamaat-e-Islami armed cadres in the past.
“Pakistan was a political enemy of Bangladesh for many years. When Sheikh Hasina came to power, they were very tough to home-grown terrorist networks and even on the cross border terrorism. She was dismantling the high doubts of the cross border terrorists and at the moment I can say that armed networks have been dismantled,” he added.
He further said that the armed networks are currently on the run as they are not successful in bullying the government and are instead choosing soft targets.
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.
Two senior police officers-Banani Police Station officer-in-charge Salauddin Ahmed Khan and Detective Branch Assistant commissioner Robiul Islam also lost their lives while trying to rescue the hostages.
Meanwhile security continues to be tight at all sensitive points in the capital, with police checking all vehicles especially in the secured diplomatic area where the gruesome hostage killings took place. (ANI)