Dhaka cafe attack: Police assign ID numbers for those living in rented houses

Dhaka: Police in the Bangladeshi capital said on Saturday they will assign identity numbers for all Dhaka residents who live in rented houses following the deadly terror attack on a cafe here that killed 22 people.

"Every tenant will have a unique ID number, so police will be able to monitor any shift to other accommodation," said police commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia adding that they were creating a database for tenants, bdnews24.com reported.

The issue came to the fore after revelations that the cafe killers had been staying in a rented apartment before launching the July 1 attack at the Holey Artisan Bakery in Gulshan area in which 18 foreigners including a 19-year-old Indian girl were killed.

Three weeks after the terror strike, police came under attack while trying to search an apartment in the capital's Kalaynpur area.

A gun battle erupted when nine suspected militants, who had rented the apartment a few days ago, were shot dead. A North South University teacher has been arrested for not keeping tenant information of an apartment he owned which the Gulshan attackers allegedly used.

Another Dhaka landlord has also been detained for similar charges while the wife of the Kalyanpur building's owner has been also arrested. That led to landlords in the city refusing accommodation to bachelors, according to media reports. Mia said police have initiated measures to create a database of all tenants.