Bangladesh police are trying to find out the names of the Dhaka café attackers from social media, after Facebook posts identified three of the attackers as Nibras Islam, Rohan Imtiaz and Meer Saameh Mubasheer.
But now one of them, Nibras Islam, has got his own fan following on Facebook.
A Facebook page has emerged on Monday dedicated to Nibras Islam. It has pictures of him with his friends, posing for selfies and in the front seat of a car.
Read: Bangladesh police try to confirm names of attackers from Facebook posts
Over 300 people have already liked the page since the first photo was posted just three hours ago.
The Facebook fan page of Nibras Islam, allegedly one of the gunmen who attacked a Dhaka cafe on Friday night, killing 20.
There are several comments on every picture, and the page is fast gaining likes as well as comments. Some people have criticised Nibras, calling him a traitor or a terrorist, or a ‘shame to our country’. But some others seem to be very admiring of him. A woman has described him as ‘cute’ while another has declared that she has a crush on the alleged terrorist. Another woman says, ‘I lyk him so much but he is a terrorist’.
A photo of Nibras Islam (far right) which has received adulation from some female fans.
It remains to be seen whether Facebook decides to take down the page.
On Saturday, six gunmen attacked a popular café in uptown Dhaka, taking people hostage. They killed 20 people, mostly foreigners, before Bangladeshi security forces had neutralised them.
Read: Bangladesh arrests two over cafe siege: police
Islamic State (IS) initially claimed responsibility for the attack, but this was later debunked by the Bangladesh government, which suspects that local terror groups backed by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) were behind the attack.
Bangladesh has on several occasions in the past denied that ISIS has a presence on its soil. Meanwhile, India’s Home Ministry has issued a directive to security agencies and state governments bordering Bangladesh, to stop infiltration of suspected extremist elements from across the border.
