DHAKA: Bangladesh police shot and killed a top militant who was the main suspect behind deadly bomb blasts at a Shia shrine during late-night raids, officers said on Thursday.

Five militants from banned local Islamist outfit Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) were also arrested during the raids carried out by police in Dhaka late on Wednesday.

Police accused the slain militant, a JMB commander who went by multiple aliases including “Albany”, of hurling grenades into the capital’s main Shia shrine which was packed with worshippers last month, killing two and injuring dozens.

The raids came as tensions ran high in Bangladesh following a spate of targeted killings and fears of mounting Islamist violence in the conservative country of 160 million.

“Albany was injured in an encounter with police on Wednesday night. Later he was brought to Dhaka Medical College Hospital where a duty doctor declared him dead,” Dhaka police spokesman Monirul Islam said at a briefing.

“Albany threw five grenades at the crowd at Hossaini Dalan (Shia shrine),” Islam added, without using a formal name for the militant.

Published in Dawn, November 27th, 2015