Suspect identified, not motive

The motive for the reported attempt to hijack a Biman Bangladesh Airlines plane on Sunday was yet to be established although the killed lone suspect was identified on Monday.
The government on Monday retreated from many of its statements over the reported attempt to hijack the plane that was going to Dubai from Dhaka via Chattogram on Sunday, and said it was not sure whether the suspect was carrying any firearm on board.
Patenga police station officer-in-charge Uttam Barua said Monday evening the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh filed a case against the lone suspect Md Polash Ahmed with the police station under the Anti-Terrorism Act and the Civil Aviation Act in connection with the incident. 
The first information report mentioned nothing about the ‘pistol’ the suspect reportedly carrying in the aircraft.
The government was also yet to confirm whether it was a gun or a toy.
The Rapid Action Battalion claimed that the ‘so-called hijacker’ Md Polash Ahmed was a ‘habitual offender’ and he was travelling from Dhaka to Chattogram as a domestic passenger on seat 17A of the Biman flight BG 147.
The battalion stated that following cross-matching of the finger print of the suspect it found that it matched with that of Polash on the battalion’s criminal data base. 
Battalion spokesperson Commander Mufti Mahmud Khan said that Polash was one of the suspects in case filed with Sonargaon police station in 2012 for abduction of a 17-year-old girl.
The battalion arrested Polash and one of his associates at Sonargaon in Narayanganj on March 12, 2012, he said. 
Sonargaon police station officer-in-charge Md Moniruzzaman said that the charge sheet of the case was submitted but he was not sure whether the case was still pending.
He also could not say how many days the suspect spent in jail following the arrest. 
Polash’s father Pear Jahan Sarder told New Age on Monday that Polash was a filmmaker and lived in Dhaka. ‘He last directed telefilm Kabar [the grave],’ Pear said. 
He told reporters that his son had a dramatic change in past few weeks and stayed for 25 days at their Narayanganj house and started saying prayers regularly at the mosque. 
Pear said that he gave his son 500 derham for his travel to Dubai and Polash left the house on February 22. 
Pear could not say what happened to Polash until he died. The suspect was known in his area as Polash but his friends said he used to operate his Facebook account as ‘Mahibi Jahan’.
Mahibi gave his last post at about 1:00pm on Sunday where he wrote in Bangla ‘hatred in breathings.’ It was his last post after he posted a video with wife Shimla, an award winning film actress, on January 25. 
Pear Jahan said Polash wedded actress Shimla in March 2018 and she visited their house in Narayanganj twice. 
Shimla told media that she divorced Polash on November 6, 2018 as she found his mental illness.
Polash in his Facebook account claimed that he was ‘IT Business Analyst at British Airways’ and studied at department of public administration at the University of Dhaka and now lived in Glasgow in United Kingdom. 
His friends and police in Narayanganj said that those information posted about his qualification was fake but he widely travelled as a tourist. 
Pear Jahan said Polash completed secondary examination Dakhil at the Taherpur Islamia Alim Madrassah in 2012 and got admission at the Sonargaon Degree College but did not continue. 
On Sunday, the reported attempt to hijack the Biman plane was foiled and the lone suspect was shot dead in a commando operation at Shah Amanat International Airport in Chattogram.
A top counter terrorism official in Dhaka thought the suspect was just an ‘insane’.
‘I don’t think that he was trying to hijack the aircraft,’ said the official. 
Battalion spokesperson Mufti Mahmud also said that the bomb-like object they found tied with the suspect’s body was a fake. 
After visiting Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka, state minister for civil aviation Md Mahbub Ali claimed that there was no security leak at the airport and no passengers could bypass it. 
Asked how the suspect could manage to carry gun with him, civil aviation secretary Md Mohibul Haque replied that they were not sure whether it was a gun or toy. ‘It will be confirmed once the committee finalise its report.’
Asked about Chattogram 24 infantry division general officer commanding Major General Matiur Rahman’s Sunday’s comment that the suspect died in firing, the secretary replied it could not confirm whether it was exchange of fire.
Replying to another query, he said that the government never said that the suspect was kept without treatment for one hour and a half. 
Civil aviation authority chairman M Naim Hassan said that they would investigate whether the suspect was kept without treatment. 
He also said that they found no bullet mark in the aeroplane but said the passengers heard sound.
‘Toy gun also sounds thush thush thush,’ he said.
Following the operation, Chattogram area commander and 24 Infantry Division general officer commanding Major General Matiur Rahman at a briefing at the Shah Amanat International Airport said that their commandos initially asked the suspect to surrender, but ‘normal action’ was taken as he refused and became aggressive and he died in firing.
The flight left Chattogram for Dubai with 133 passengers at about 12:15 on Monday afternoon, Shah Amanat International Airport manager Wing Commander ABM Sarwar E-Zaman.
He said that the airport operations are running smoothly and following the incident on Sunday security has been beefed up there.
Chattogram Metropolitan Police (Patenga zone) assistant commissioner Zahidul Islam said that bullet mark was in the right abdomen of the body.
The civil aviation ministry early Monday formed a five-member committee to investigate the attempted plane hijack. The committee was asked to submit its report in five working days
The committee headed by additional secretary Md Mokabbir Hossain started recording of the testimonies of the crew members and officials concerned.
The state minister said that prime minister Sheikh Hasina was in parliament during the incident and she was monitoring each of the development from Dhaka and spoke to the officials there time to time. 
About the reported hijack attempt, the civil aviation authority chairman said that the pilots informed the tower about suspected hijacker, then all passengers got down through the emergency exits as soon as the aircraft landed at Chattogram.
The pilots manage to come out of the aircraft while one steward Sagar left the suspect alone.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net