Several posts on social media said the man identified by police as Nibras Islam attended Monash University in Malaysia. Two others went to an elite public school in Dhaka called Scholastica. PHOTO: AFP

ISLAMABAD: Bangladesh on Monday dismissed as ‘utter nonsense’ the Indian media reports claiming that it blamed Pakistan for the deadly Dhaka café siege in which at least 20 people were killed.



The strong rebuttal came a day after Indian news channel NDTV attributed a statement to Adviser to Bangladesh’s Prime Minister onInternational Affairs Professor Gowher Rizvi that the terrorist attack was likely enabled by Pakistan’s top intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).



Professor Rizvi called Pakistan’s High Commissioner in Dhaka Shuja Alam on Monday to clarify that he had not given any such statement or interview to any Indian news channel. The NDTV’s claim is ‘utter nonsense’, he added.



Seven gunmen stormed a Dhaka restaurant in the diplomatic zone in the upmarket Gulshan neighbourhood late Friday and hacked to death their mostly non-Muslim hostages, including nine Italians, seven Japanese and an American.



It was one of the deadliest militant attacks to date in Bangladesh, where Islamic State and al Qaeda have claimed a series of killings of liberals and religious minorities in the last year.



Bangladesh, however, has so far rejected the involvement of Da’ish, instead Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said the killers -- six of whom were shot dead in the siege -- were members of the home-grown militant outfit Jamaeytul Mujahdeen Bangladesh (JMB), a group banned over a decade ago but which claims to represent Da’ish in Bangladesh.



Pakistan denounces allegations



In a separate statement issued on Monday, the Foreign Office termed Indian media allegations as ‘highly regrettable, irresponsible and provocative’ stories.



“They are utterly baseless and unfounded. Pakistan strongly rejects such allegations,” Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakria said.



In this context, he drew attention to Prof Rizvi’s statement wherein the adviser had refuted the Indian media story attributed to him regarding Pakistan’s involvement as ‘utter nonsense’ and a proof of the Indian media’s malicious intent.



The spokesperson confirmed that Prof Rizvi had contacted Pakistan’s high commissioner to Bangladesh to clarify that he did not issue any statement against Pakistan and that the Indian media reports were false.



He also advised the Pakistan’s high commissioner to convey this clarification to the Islamabad to avoid any misunderstandings from germinating between the two countries. “Pakistan deeply appreciates Prof Rizvi’s timely rebuttal to the Indian media’s reports,” Zakaria said.



He further said Pakistan had strongly condemned the terrorist attack in Dhaka and expressed solidarity with the Bangladesh government and its brotherly people.



“Pakistan condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. Being itself one of the biggest victims of terrorism, Pakistan welcomes Prof Rizvi’s call for international cooperation to fight the menace of terrorism,” he added.



Son of affluent parents



Of the attackers identified so far, most belonged to affluent families.



Posts on Facebook identified five of the attackers, pictured on Da’ish website, as Nibras Islam, Rohan Imtiaz, Meer Saameh Mubasheer, Andaleeb Ahmed and Raiyan Minhaj. A police officer said the pictures of four of the attackers matched the bodies, although he gave a different name for the fourth.



They had attended prestigious schools or universities in Dhaka and Malaysia, officials said.



Interestingly, Imtiaz was identified as the son of a mid-ranking leader in Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s ruling party. Imtiaz Khan Babul is a former youth affairs secretary of the Dhaka wing of the ruling Awami League. He had lodged a complaint in January that his son had gone missing since December 30, 2015, a police officer said.



“A majority of the boys who attacked the restaurant came from very good educational institutions. Some went to sophisticated schools. Their families are relatively well-to-do people,” Bangladeshi Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu told India’s NDTV.



Several posts on social media said the man identified by police as Nibras Islam attended Monash University in Malaysia. Two others went to an elite public school in Dhaka called Scholastica.



Nobody has come forward yet to claim the bodies of the six dead men, he said.



Published in The Express Tribune, July 5th, 2016.