Dhaka: Former Rajshahi University student Shariful Islam alias Khalid was involved in Dr Rezaul Karim’s killing and was a key planner of Gulshan attack, Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) said on Saturday.

Khalid, a suspected member of banned militant outfit Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh, was arrested from Chapainawabganj’s Nachol Upazila on Friday, reports the UNB.

‘The former English department student of 2010-11 session got involved in militancy through his friend Shovon. On April 23, 2016, Khalid and his cohorts killed Rezaul Karim,’ Rab spokesperson Mufti Mahmud Khan told a media conference in Dhaka.

He went into hiding after the killing but was sentenced to death for his teacher’s murder.

‘He later played a key role in planning the Holey Artisan attack,’ the Rab officer said.

On July 1, 2016, five militants stormed the upscale café and killed 22 people, including nine Italians, seven Japanese, one Indian, one Bangladeshi-born American and two Bangladeshis along with two police officers. It was the worst terror attack in Bangladesh’s history.

Khalid went into hiding after the attack and reemerged in October 2017 to reorganise militants to destabilise the country.

Quoting him, the Rab spokesperson said: ‘Militants affiliated with neo-JMB are trying to regroup to fill up the void left by the arrest of top militant leaders.’

‘We are trying to arrest them quickly,’ he added.