An Italian aid worker has been shot dead in a high security diplomatic area in Dhaka, the first attack in Bangladesh claimed by the dreaded Islamic State terror group that has prompted many embassies of Western countries to restrict the movements of their diplomats.
Cesare Tavella, 50, was shot thrice from a close proximity on Monday evening in Dhaka’s Gulshan diplomatic zone while he was jogging, police said.
The attackers fled the scene after Tavella fell to the ground. He was rushed to a nearby private hospital where doctors declared him dead, police said.
Tavella was working for the Netherlands-based ICCO Cooperation as manager of its Profitable Opportunities for Food Security project, a police spokesman said.
“One bullet hit his left hand. He was also shot twice on his back. One of those bullets pierced through his chest,” forensic expert Qazi Mohammed Abu Shama was quoted as saying. The doctors who carried out the autopsy told reporters that they believed a revolver was used to kill Tavella.
One of the witnesses of the murder, a rickshaw mechanic, said he saw three assailants fleeing on a motorcycle. One of them was wielding a gun.
“We are not clear who killed him but we think it was a pre-planned murder,” Dhaka’s police commissioner Ohiduzzaman Mian told reporters.
Another official confirmed that the killers did not take away the moneybag or his cell phone, indicating that the murder was not carried out by ordinary muggers.
Police said no arrests had been made so far in connection with Tavella’s murder but they had formed a special unit comprising “skilled individuals handpicked from different branches of police” to carry out the murder investigation.
“The special unit has been formed in line with a police headquarters decision...a special superintendent of the Criminal Investigation Department is heading the unit,” a police spokesman said.
In a statement issued in Arabic, the Islamic State claimed that it killed Cesare, SITE Intelligence Group said.
In its claim, the Islamic State warned that “citizens of the crusader coalition” would not be safe in Muslim nations.
Security officials here said this could be the militant group’s first attack in Bangladesh.
However, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said authorities had found no evidence that the Islamic State was involved in the killing.
“We are sure that the killing of the Italian national is pre-planned and a deep rooted conspiracy against the government as well as the country,” he was quoted as saying by the state-run BSS news agency.
Meanwhile, in the wake of the murder, the US, the UK and Canada had restricted the movement of their diplomats and advised citizens to remain alert.
The directives came on Tuesday, a day after the UK issued a travel alert where it claimed militants may be targeting western interests in Bangladesh.
“Militants may be targeting western interests in Bangladesh in late September; UK officials have been advised to limit attendance at events where westerners may gather,” the UK embassy said.
The US authorities prohibited all official government personnel from attending large gatherings, including events at international hotels in Bangladesh until further notice, unless they have obtained Regional Security Office permission.
Citing the alerts issued by Australia and the UK, Canadian high commission in Dhaka on Tuesday morning issued a travel alert for its citizens, according to a statement issued by the Canadian government.
“At the end of September 2015, the Australian and United Kingdom governments informed their citizens that there is reliable information to suggest that militants may be planning to target Western interests in Bangladesh. Attacks cannot be ruled out and could be indiscriminate,” it said.
Four secular bloggers have been hacked to death in Bangladesh this year. The Al Qaeda linked militant groups have been blamed for their brutal murders.
However, this is the first time that the IS has claimed responsibility of an attack in Muslim-majority Bangladesh.
Home Minister Khan said Islamic State involvement in Tavella’s murder was “yet to be confirmed” as the “Islamic State has reportedly made that claim but their site contains no such admission”.
“We (however) are looking into everything which that might have been the motive behind the murder,” Khan said.
Asked about Islamic State presence in Bangladesh, Khan said those who were suspected of recruiting for the extremist group had already been arrested.
The incident came even as Dhaka was trying allay security concerns of Cricket Australia, which is seeking assurances from its Bangladeshi counterpart before proceeding with the team’s trip to the country.
Bangladeshi authorities have ordered an intensified security vigil for the diplomatic enclave, even as the home minister urged foreign nationals not to be afraid.
The murder sparked massive international concerns with condemnations coming from the European Union and the UK.
The US State Department, in a statement, said they were in “close contact” with Bangladesh government over the murder of the Italian national and the “continued threat” in the country as US regards Bangladesh as “a strong regional and global partner in the fight against extremism”.
British high commissioner in Dhaka Robert Gibson has condemned the murder, saying “it was a horrifying and cowardly crime against an aid worker working for the people of Bangladesh, helping the most vulnerable.”
EU Ambassador in Dhaka Pierre Mayaudon also condemned the savage killing and urged the law enforcement agencies "to promptly investigate this barbaric aggression and bring the perpetrators to justice."
Image: Cesare Tavella, 50, was working for the Netherlands-based ICCO Cooperation as manager of its Profitable Opportunities for Food Security project.
