The supposed mastermind behind the Dhaka café attack, Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury, and three others were shot dead in an encounter with the police near the Bangladesh capital on Saturday. Dhaka's Chief of Police Counter-Terrorism Moniru Islam told Reuters that the four militants were killed in a raid at their hideout in Naraynganj, in the outskirts of the capital.

The raid was carried out after security forces were tipped off by an arrested member of local banned outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh. The police said Chowdhury had lived in Canada and could have made contacts with foreign financiers before coming to Bangladesh in 2013, PTI reported.

Chowdhury had allegedly orchestrated the attack at the Dhaka café on July 1, in which 20 civilians and two police officers died. More than 100 commandos were called in to end the siege. While the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the incident, the Bangladesh government maintained that the Jama'atul Mujahideen had been behind it. Security officials had said they had confirmed the identities of five of the six militants who were gunned down after they had stormed a popular restaurant in Dhaka's diplomatic area.