An Islamist extremist accused of being one the masterminds of last year's deadly siege at a Bangladeshi cafe was killed during a pre-dawn raid Friday in the capital Dhaka, police said.

The bodies of Nurul Islam Marzan and another suspected extremist were found after officers raided a property in Dhaka's Rayer Bazar neighbourhood, a spokesman for the Dhaka Metropolitan Police told AFP.

"We found two bodies. One of them was Marzan. And another was a suspected extremist," additional deputy commissioner of DMP Yusuf Ali said.