Mastermind behind Dhaka cafe attack stayed in West Bengal hotel: report

Suleiman and another JMB man associated with ISIS met Indian national Abu Musa, in West Bengal at Malda station.

The mastermind behind the terrorist attack in a Dhaka cafe, which killed 29 people, is Jamaat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) leader Mohammed Suleiman who travelled to Kolkata two days after murdering Bangladeshi professor Rezaul Karim, a key Islamic State operative in India has revealed.

According to reports, Indian national Mohammad Masiuddin alias Abu Musa has told his interrogators that the April 23 killing of the professor and the July 1 attack on the upmarket cafe in Dhaka were linked to Suleiman.

Suleiman and another JMB man associated with Islamic State met Musa in West Bengal, at Malda station, said the report.

Suleiman stayed at a hotel and was accompanied by another yet to be identified person associated with the jihadi outfit and ISIS, the report said.

Bangladesh has already expressed concern that Suleiman could be staying in India.

The person staying with Suleiman could be Abu Ibrahim Al-Hanif alias Tamim Chowdhury, about whom also Bangladesh has intimated India.

Suleiman lives under a different name when in Dhaka, the Intelligence Bureau (IB) believes. ISIS, through its media arm Amaq Agency, had claimed responsibility for the killing of the professor for "calling to atheism".

It now appears that the Dhaka attack and Rajshahi killing masterminds were in India and possibly stayed for a while and planned attacks in India, which must cause significant concern to the Indian intelligence agencies.

(This article first appeared in Deccan Chronicle)