Malibagh Attack: CCTV camera in the area damaged a day before

CCTV cameras that could capture the scenes of the Gulistan and Malibagh bomb attacks, apparently targeting police, were damaged before the incidents, investigators said yesterday.

“It was done according to a plan. Had the cameras been operational, those who planted the bombs would have already been tracked down,” said an official of the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit which is investigating the cases in this regard.

Officials involved in the investigation said two CCTV cameras that could cover the April 29 Gulistan blast scene were damaged four to five days before the attack. Similarly, a wire of another camera was disconnected just a day before an Improvised Explosive Device went off in a police pickup in Malibagh on May 26, they said.

The explosion in Gulistan left two traffic constables and a community police member injured. A female Assistant Sub-Inspector and two others were wounded in the Malibagh blast.

Hours after both the explosions, SITE Intelligence Group, an American company that tracks online activity of white supremacist and jihadist organisations, said the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Asked if militants were involved in the blasts, DMP Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia on Tuesday said, “This cannot be said right now… we have to consider both local and international aspects during the investigation.”

Meanwhile, analysing footage of other CCTV cameras near the blast scene in Malibagh, investigators said they suspected that five to six people directly took part in the attack.

“With a backpack, a youth aged between 25 and 28 reached the spot in a rickshaw. Three more youths were seen walking in front of him while two to three others were following them,” said another official involved in the probe.

The official, who requested anonymity, said they suspected that after getting down from the rickshaw, the youth walked to the vehicle and planted the bomb half an hour before the blast that occurred at 8:49pm.

Later, the youth was seen walking towards the Shantinagar intersection, the official said, adding they were trying to detect and arrest the culprits.

The other suspects left the scene in a bus together. Investigators were trying to trace their location and identity, said CTTC officials.

The investigators also suspect that someone was keeping an eye on the spot for a couple of days before the explosion. That individual informed the other suspects about the vehicle being unattended.

In both the Malibagh and Gulistan incidents, the attackers used almost similar bombs. Both the IEDs had batteries attached to them, a technique used by militants. But in Malibagh, they used a timer, a small number of splinters and a special kind of chemical, said investigators.

CTTC officials said the bomb in Gulistan went off just after a traffic policeman sat near the scene. It suggested that the attackers had recced the area and their accomplices were around it. The bomb in Malibagh also went off when the female police member went near the vehicle.

“However, it seems the attackers did not want to cause massive destruction. Rather, they wanted to create panic among police,” said an investigator.

“Collecting footage of nearby CCTVs, we are now trying to find out how the cameras around the scenes were damaged days before the attacks and who are responsible for their maintenance,” the official told The Daily Star, requesting anonymity.

Asked about the types of explosives used in Malibagh and Gulistan, CTTC Additional Deputy Commissioner Rahmatullah Chowdhury said they were yet to receive the forensic report. “So, I cannot comment on it,” he said.

Yesterday, DMP Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia said he hoped police would be able to identify the attackers, their motives as well as learn about the ingredients used in the crude bombs.

He said primarily it seemed the bomb was an “improvised cocktail” and police were the target.

He also said the bomb attack on the police van in Malibagh was carried out as part of a “conspiracy” to weaken police morale.

A vested quarter has been plotting against police members, who discharge their duties with professionalism and courage in dealing with incidents of terrorism, militancy and narcotics, he said.

He also said the law enforcers have also heightened security at the key points of the capital and are ready to tackle any untoward situation.