5 July 2016
KUALA LUMPUR, July 5 ― Two of the militants who killed 20 hostages in Dhaka, Bangladesh, had been social media followers of controversial Muslim preacher Dr Zakir Naik and two suspected recruiters of the Islamic State (IS).
Bangladesh’s English-language newspaper The Daily Star reported yesterday that one of the killers, Rohan Imtiaz, posted on Facebook last year quoting Dr Zakir ― who did a tour in Malaysia last April and received an award from Putrajaya two years ago ― as “urging all Muslims to be terrorists”.
Another militant in the attack on a cafe in Dhaka, Nibras Islam, reportedly used to follow IS suspected recruiters ― Anjem Choudary and Shami Witness ― on Twitter in 2014.
Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar confirmed yesterday that two people involved in the Dhaka attack previously studied at Monash University here, but said police were unable to verify if the duo were the attackers or victims.
UK broadcaster BBC News reported that six attackers were killed when authorities stormed the Holey Artisan cafe in Dhaka, while a seventh man was arrested and questioned.
The militants, who were said to have come from affluent families, had killed 20 hostages ― including Italians and Japanese ― most of whom had been hacked to death. Rohan was the son of a politician from Bangladesh's ruling party Awami League.
A man places a sign as others light candles during a vigil in Kolkata, India, to show solidarity with the victims of the attack at Holey Artisan restaurant, a upscale cafe in Dhaka, Bangladesh July 2, 2016. — Reuters pic
Indian and Hindu groups in Malaysia had opposed the visit by Dr Zakir, who expressed support for Al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden in 2006 and said in a lecture that “every Muslim should be a terrorist”.
However, Putrajaya, Islamist opposition party PAS and some clerics had defended the Mumbai-based televangelist who speaks on the Peace TV broadcaster, with Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi describing Dr Zakir as a “very wise man”.
