The failure of intelligence agencies to provide specific information on the terror attack at Holey Artisan Bakery is said to have hindered deployment of adequate response to nip it in the bud.
The hate-attack at the café at Gulshan in the city on July 1 of 2016 claimed the lives of 22 people, mostly foreigners, and later culminated in the death of five militants and a cook of the café.
Monirul Islam, Chief of Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) Unit, wrote in an article "Dhaka Attack: Threats and the Government's Response.'
He read out written article at the 'Chiefs of Police Conference of South Asia and Neighbouring Countries' at Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel recently.
Monirul, also Additional Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), said police had information that a major militant attack on foreigners was imminent in the diplomatic zone.
"Police thus enhanced the number of check posts and patrol teams in the area but it was the intelligence agencies which could not provide specific information on the target spot," he added.
He said, "The weakest point was intelligence failure. The huge deployment of undercover members of different intelligence agencies could not identify Holey Artisan Bakery as a potential soft target which was frequented by many foreigners."
The police official also pointed out the gaps in surveillance of the law-enforcers.
He explained the huge number of forces did not search the suspect pedestrians rather they checked vehicles. The non-search of passers-by helped five terrorists with three AK-47 riffles, five pistols and huge ammunition and grenades on their backpacks to reach their target point on foot without any security interception.
Monirul in his article emphasised adequate counter-terrorism training for the general police force. He also explained that local police reached the 'hot spot' within 15 minutes but could not put an end to the siege, rather resulted in the deaths of two senior police officials.
He meant that the local police had no training to combat militants in such a situation.
He finds the delay in conducting the final operation, codenamed, 'Operation Thunderbolt,' which the members of army operated as key to the tragedy.
The official, however, likened the Gulshan café attack with the devastating 26/11 attack in Mumbai and the 9/11 in the USA.
The five attackers, who were killed in the operation, were Rohan Ibne Imtiaz, 20, Nibras Islam, 22, Meer Sameeh Mubassir, 18, Khairul Islam Payel, 20, and Shafiqul Islam Ujjal, 26.
The official said that they were radicalised through online materials and one to one communication. When contacted, Abdur Rob, Security Expert and former Director of Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies, said it might be a collective failure, and not only the failure of the intelligence agencies. Security Expert Maj Gen (Retd) Abdur Rashid sees no fault of any intelligence agency in the gruesome café attack.
He has said that the intelligences do not generally have specific information on any attack. "If it had, no attack could have been carried out," he said.
