Dhaka terrorists were from affluent families

Dhaka: After the SITE Intelligence Group published photos of five gunmen claimed by Islamic state that killed 22 people in Dhaka’s Holey Artisan Bakery, friends and former classmates have started identifying the attackers using social media. The photos of five ISIS recruits released over the weekend show the militants are young – around 21 to 27 years old.  They were identified as Akash, Bikash, Don, Badhon and Ripon.

But friends who have identified the attackers have identified different names for three of them through social media. As per the photo posted by SITE, one assailant has been identified as Nibras Islama (pictured bottom left). On his Facebook, which has now been deactivated, it was found that he went missing from Uttara on February 3. In one of the videos posted on his profile, he is seen shaking hands with Bollywood actress Shraddha Kapoor. It is unclear where the footage was shot.

After studying at a top private university in Dhaka, he had gone to pursue higher studies in Monash University’s  Malaysia campus.   Another assailant identified as Meer Saameh Mubasheer (pictured bottom right) was a class 11 (A-level) student. He went missing from Gulshan on February 29 The third attacker has been identified as Rohan Imitiaz.

His father is believed to be a politician from Dhaka and was also a student of a top private school. “They are all highly educated young men and went to university. No one is from a madrassa,”  Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said. Asked why they would have become Islamist militants, Khan said: “It has become a fashion.”