A reset in ties
Against a backdrop of rapidly deteriorating relations between India and Bangladesh, Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri’s recent visit to Dhaka marked a crucial effort to restore bilateral ties.
A Bangladesh court sentenced on Wednesday that handed death sentences to seven members of an Islamist militant group for plotting an attack on a cafe in 2016 that left 22 people dead, mostly foreigners, in the south Asian nation’s worst such incident.
Anti-Terrorism Special Tribunal Judge Mojibur Rahman awarded death sentence to Jahangir Hossain alias Rajib Gandhi, Rakibul Hasan Regan, Aslam Hossain alias Rashedul Islam alias Rash, Abdus Sabur Khan alias Soheil Mahfuz, Hadisur Rahman Sagar, Shariful Islam Khaled alias Khalid and Mamunur Rashid Ripon — for the attack at Dhaka’s diplomatic zone Gulshan in the 12-hour June 2016 seige, bdnews24 reported.
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Mizanur Rahman alias Boro Mizan, a suspect in the case has already been acquitted.
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All convicts are top leaders of a revived faction of Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh or Neo-JMB, said police.
The Islamic State (IS) claimed to have staged the attack although Bangladesh has declined the presence of any foreign terrorist group in the country and attributed the assault to home-grown terrorists.
The July 1 attack on the restaurant popular with foreigners in Dhaka’s diplomatic area shocked the nation of 160 million and signalled a chilling threat to business, including the vital garment exports sector.
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