Ullah, 27, could face a sentence of a life term in prison if convicted of using a weapon of mass destruction.
New York City bombing suspect Akayed Ullah faces his first court appearance Wednesday from a hospital bed while authorities in the U. S. and Bangladesh exhaustively explore any possible terror ties in his current and native countries.
Acting Manhattan U. S. Attorney Joon Kim said Ullah, a native of Bangladesh who has lived in Brooklyn since 2011, was being treated for burns and cuts suffered in Monday’s blast in a crowded pedestrian tunnel near Times Square. Three bystanders also suffered non-life threatening injuries.
Ullah’s „bedside presentment“ from Bellevue Hospital involves a five-count federal complaint on charges of bombing a public place, use of a weapon of mass destruction, providing support for the Islamic State, destruction of property by fire or explosives and use of a destructive device in furtherance of a crime of violence.
Ullah, 27, could face a sentence of a life in prison if convicted of using a weapon of mass destruction.
Ullah’s radicalization began as far back as 2014, and he viewed Islamic State’s online material on how to carry out terror attacks, the complaint said. Authorities in Bangladesh said Wednesday they were conducting interviews with family members and others associated with Ullah there.
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Ullah’s wife, Jannatul Ferdous Jui, lives in the capital of Dhaka with the couple’s infant son. Ullah’s father-in-law, mother-in-law and maternal uncle were among those questioned Wednesday, but no connections to terrorism were immediately found, said Monirul Islam, chief of Bangladesh’s counterterrorism agency.
“Akayed was a ‘homegrown’ militant in New York,“ Monirul Islam, chief of Dhaka’s counterterrorism agency, told Banglanews24 . „We suspect he got involved with militancy through internet there, but no proof of his militancy involvement was found here.“
Still, Monirul said police were thoroughly investigating the case „to avert any negative“ impact it might have on the many Bangladeshi expatriates living and working in the U. S.
“We have directly contacted with U. S. law enforcement officials in this regard,“ he said.
Ullah carried out the attack in protest of U. S. policies in the Middle East and elsewhere, the federal complaint stated. Ullah conducted his attack on a workday during the holiday season in hopes of hurting as many people as possible, the complaint alleges.
Authorities say the bomb only partially detonated, a misfire that may have saved scores of lives.
