RAB arrests man on charges of Holey Artisan attack

Members of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested a man whom law enforcers identified as a member of banned militant outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and an accused in the Holey Artisan Bakery attack.

According to news agency UNB, the arrestee is Md Shariful Islam alias Khalid alias Rahat alias Nahid alias Abu Sulaiman, 27.

He is also a condemned convict in the murder case of Rajshahi University teacher professor Rezaul Karim, said a RAB text message.

Shariful who was detained from Nachole upazila of Chapainawabganj was being sent to Dhaka, added the message.

The Holey Artisan cafe attack that shattered the country and drew global attention, claimed the lives of 22 people -- nine Italians, seven Japanese, one Indian, one Bangladeshi-born American and two Bangladeshis along with two police officers -- on 1 July, 2016.

Twenty-one people were identified for the attack. Among them, 13 were killed in alleged gunfights with the law enforcers at different times.

On 23 July, 2018, police pressed charges against eight alleged militants in the attack on the upscale eatery in the capital.