Cops rule out IS claim
The unidentified perpetrators who carried out the attack at a traffic police box in Chattogram's Sholoshahar gate-2 on Friday had reconned the area multiple times before, said investigators.
They [culprits] knew that the CCTV cameras in the area were not functioning, said police yesterday.
However, Deputy Commissioner of Counter Terrorism (CT) unit of Chattogram Metropolitan Police (CMP) Hasan Md Showkat Ali ruled out the claim of Islamic State (IS) over the attack.
CMP officials said the attack is similar to ones carried out by militants in three spots last year in Dhaka on police and the type of IED (Improvised Explosive Device) is quite similar to the previous attacks.
Investigators have said carrying out such an attack in a busy area is not possible without reconnaissance. The attackers also knew the detailed positons of CCTV cameras installed by CMP in the area and other establishments near the traffic police box.
Police sources said the investigators did not find any usable CCTV footage that shows what exactly happened during the attack.
CMP sources said there are 104 CCTV cameras installed in different points across the city but only 25 are functional. The rest, including the four installed at Sholoshahar gate-2 have not been working for a long while, said police sources.
Talking to the newspaper, Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) (Operation) Polash Kanti Nath of CMP counter-terrorism unit said, "We have collected footage from around 40 cameras of different establishments near the blast spot and started analysing the footage."
"The IED which was kept inside the box blasted around 8:30pm and we are matching the time with the footage to find suspects," added the ADC.
DC Hasan Showkat Ali said, "We ruled out IS' claims regarding the incident... without investigation, we cannot say who carried out the attack on police."
"We are investigating the attack and we will disclose their [culprits] identities very soon," he added.
This correspondent made several attempts to speak to CMP Commissioner Mahbubor Rahman about the CCTV cameras not working, but he did not answer the calls.
Traffic Sergeant Arafat, Assistant Sub-Inspector Atauddin, and pedestrians Jahid Bin Jahangir, Sumon and ten-year-old Nowshad were hurt after a pipe bomb exploded inside the traffic police box on Friday night.
After the attack, Anti-Terrorism Unit (ATU) came to Chattogram and collected the evidence. Bomb experts said the IED is locally made and strong enough to kill.
According to SITE Intelligence Group which tracks online activities of jihadist organisations and white supremacists, IS claimed the responsibility of the police box attack similar to Dhaka and Khulna.
A case was lodged with Panchlaish Police Station on Saturday night accusing unidentified persons in this regard.
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