Ashiqul Alam, 22, from Jackson Heights in the city's Queens borough, was charged with illegally acquiring firearms as part of a plan, federal officials said. The New York Times in a report said the man was of Bangladeshi origin. Times Square, with its millions of visitors each year, is often called the crossroads of the world, and has been targeted by at least two bombers in recent years, despite the presence of heavily armed police. On May 1, 2010, police thwarted an attempted car bomb in Times Square, defusing a crude device made out of firecrackers and propane gas tanks. In December 2017, a Bangladeshi man set off a homemade pipe bomb strapped to his body in a crowded underground pedestrian tunnel near Times Square.

Source: Dhaka Tribune June 07, 2019 18:33 UTC