A Dhaka court on Wednesday sentenced seven accused to death in a case lodged over the horrific militant attack on the capital’s Holey Artisan Bakery in 2016. The attack resulted in the deaths of 22 people, including 17 foreigners.
Judge Md Mujibur Rahman of Dhaka Anti-terrorism Special Tribunal came up with the short judgement at around 12.15pm in presence of the accused in the crowded courtroom. Earlier the judge started reading out the judgement at 12.05 pm.
The convicts are Jahangir Hossain, Aslam Hossain Rash, Hadisur Rahman, Rakibul Hasan Regan, Md Abdus Sabur Khan, Shariful Islam Khaled and Mamunur Rashid Ripon. The court also fined Tk 50,000 each.
One of the accused, Mizanur Rahman alias Boro Mizan, was acquitted due to insufficient evidence. The tribunal in its observation said Tamim Chowdhury was the mastermind behind the attack and he coordinated the whole incident. “Members of neo-JMB carried out the monstrous attack to create fear among the people and draw attention of international militant organization IS,” the court said.
Earlier, the convicts were taken to the court around 10:15 am amid tight security and the verdict was read out in their presence. The convicts were visibly upset upon hearing the verdict and screamed at the judge during the delivery.
Strict security measures were taken in and around the court area in old Dhaka. Law enforcers including RAB and police were deployed inside the court boundary. Law enforcers conducted body-checks at the entrances of the court and strict bag checking also took place. Metal detectors were placed for additional security as well.
The attack took place at the Holey Artisan Bakery in the diplomatic zone in Dhaka’s Gulshan area on July 1, 2016. The brutal attack resulted in 22 civil casualties, in addition to two police officers who died on duty during the 12-hour standoff with the terrorists.
Five gunmen, namely, Nibrash Islam, Mir Sabeh Mubashir and Rohan Ibne Imtiaz, Khairul Islam Payel and Shafiqul Islam Uzzal held the diners hostage inside the upscale bakery for hours. A commando operation was launched which ended the siege and left the gunmen dead.
A case was filed by Sub-Inspector Ripon Kumar Das with Gulshan Police Station under the Anti-Terrorism Act on July 4 of the same year, accusing six named and several unnamed persons of creating ‘unrest’ in the country and trying to turn it into a ‘terrorist state’.
The trial proceedings ended in less than a year and saw several key witnesses, including former North South University teacher Abul Hasnat Reza Karim, his wife, owner of the Holey Artisan restaurant, and top police officials, giving harrowing testimony on the deadly attack.
Hasnat was also arrested on suspicion of being involved in the attack but was relieved of charges after a probe found him not guilty. Five of the militants were killed in the standoff and eight were killed in several anti-military drives that followed. Inspector Humayun Kabir of the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit of police filed charges against 21.
Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury and Sarwar Jahan, top operatives of mainstream JMB and financiers; Nurul Islam Marzan, a Chittagong University student and café attack coordinator; Jahidul Islam, a retired major and trainer, Basharuzzaman Chocolate, a software engineer; Abu Raihan Tarik, a top operative, Tanvir Kaderi, a banker and financier; and Mizanur Rahman alias Chhoto Mizan, grenade supplier are the eight killed later in separate pre-emptive anti-militancy drives.
The charge sheet stated that the suspects’ plan was to kill a large number of foreigners in a bid to paint the country in a negative light internationally. Moreover, the charge sheet said that they also wanted to attract attention from global terrorist groups. The tribunal framed charges against the eight accused on November 26 and the trial started on December 3.