'Hotel bomber checked in with original ID'

The suspected suicide bomber who was killed in a hotel raid near Dhanmondi road 32 had checked in with his original identity card, police said today.

“He had checked in with his original ID. His mobile number was registered under his name,” said Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia.

The city police chief was answering a query on how lawmen had ascertained the identity of the suspected bomber in hours at a press briefing this morning.

A man named Saiful Islam died yesterday morning after a brief raid in a hotel on Panthapath. Several shots were fired and an explosion heard. He was suspected to be a suicide bomber.

READ MORE: Target were the mourners

“We obtained his documents from the hotel manager before the operation around 4:00am. We ascertained his identity from those documents,” the police official said.

“He was a fresh recruit of the Neo JMB. He was sent to carry out suicide attacks,” DMP chief Mia said elaborating on police’s knowledge on the man.

“He had associates. We are trying to arrest them, as well as those who sent him,” he said.

READ MORE: He was looking for a job in Dhaka

In response to another relevant query, the Dhaka city police commissioner said “there is no threat of a big attack, but the militants might take attempts to carry out sporadic attack.”

“The organisational strength of Neo JMB, Ansarullah Bangla Team and other outfits have been greatly diminished. But they take sporadic attempts,” he said.