The drug test detection unit of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) did not find any psychotropic drug in the body of 21 militants who were killed in law enforcers raids.
At least 21 militants including suspected mastermind of the Gulshan café attack, Tamim Chowdhury, six attackers of Holey Artisan Bakery in Gulshan were killed by army commandos. Other 15 militants were killed in Sholakia Eidgah attack, Kalyanpur and Narayanganj raids.
"The counterterrorism unit of police collected samples of hair, blood, among other things, of the 21 militants killed during the raids. The gunmen, mostly in their 20s, seized the upscale cafe on the night of July 1, where they murdered 20 people including foreigners.
A high official of the CID, involved in the drug tests, told The Daily Observer on Thursday that the tests did not find any such things which provide energy or agility to combatants at the battlefield.
Among the dead, 16 were members of the banned Jama'aatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), according to the police. The so-called Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for the deadly attack at the heart of Dhaka's diplomatic area, but the government has denied their presence in Bangladesh, saying homegrown militants were responsible.
The autopsy officials took samples of the attackers' blood, teeth and flesh from their thighs to check if they were under the influence of drugs the IS uses to create 'super soldiers,' said Assistant Professor Soheil Mahmud.
IS fighters use an amphetamine-based drug in the form of a pill, Captagon, for energy and agility at the battlefront, according to investigators and military analysts.
Captagon, now illegal in many countries across the globe, was available in western countries in the 60s and was used to treat mental illnesses.
Captagon abuse is rampant not only among IS fighters but in the whole of Middle East. In Saudi Arabia, at least 50,000 users are on rehabilitation treatment for this drug every year.
War-torn Syria has emerged as a huge supplier of Captagon which is smuggled to countries in the Middle East and Europe.
Captagon users can go on without sleeping for days and without feeling hungry, Dr Robert W Keisling of MedStar Washington Hospital told Reuters. It creates a feeling of euphoria in the user who feels invincible under its influence, he said. Production is cheap and requires only basic knowledge of chemistry and a few scales, experts have said
