News Desk :
On the night of July 1, 2016, a group of militants stormed into the Holey Artisan Bakery in the capital’s Gulshan area and killed 22 people, mostly foreigners.
Marking the fifth anniversary of the attack, the gate of the building on Road No 79 in Gulshan 2 was opened from 7am on Thursday for the visitors to pay their respect by placing wreaths.
Ghulshan Police Station SI Mofazzel Hossain said due to the strict lockdown for coronavirus pandemic in the country, they have arranged this on limited scale, specially for the foreigners.
Five years after the terrorist attack, the paper book of the death reference of the attack case is now ready for hearing but could not start due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.On July 1, 2016, militants armed with guns and knives stormed the cafe and took around 40 people hostage, including restaurant staff and guests, both locals and foreigners. The militants killed 20 people-nine Italians, seven Japanese, one Indian, one Bangladeshi-born American, and two Bangladeshis-in the overnight terror attack.
After the attack, anti-militant operations were intensified in the country.
A case was filed with Gulshan Police Station in connection with what still stands as the deadliest terror attack ever in the country.Later, the case was transferred to the Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP).
Twenty-one people were identified behind the attack. Among them, 13 people were killed in gunfights at different times.
Police pressed charges against eight people in the case on July 23, 2018. The tribunal framed charges against them on November 26. On December 3 last year, the trial began with the deposition of witnesses.
On November 17 last, the tribunal set November 27 for delivering its verdict. On November 27, 2019, seven men were sentenced to death for their roles in the Holey Artisan café attack, the deadliest terror attack.
BSS adds: The counterterrorism unit of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has conducted 23 “high-risk operations” where 63 suspected terrorists were killed, says its chief Additional Commissioner Md Asaduzzaman.
Addressing a press briefing on Thursday on the fifth anniversary of the Holey Artisan attack, Asaduzzaman said his unit, Counter Terrorsim and Transnational Crime (CTTC), was in charge of the investigation into the horrific attack. “The CTTC arrested all terrorists, planners, financiers and accused involved in the terrorist attack in the shortest possible time and submitted a police report to the court,” he said. The CTTC chief said the CTTC has taken a tough stance against terrorism and a coordinated step like hard and soft “Smart Approach” against militants.
As part of the Smart Approach, the CTTC has organized various seminars and workshops to raise awareness on law enforcement as well as building social resistance against terrorism, he added.
“Among the awareness activities, the CTTC held view exchanges with school-college-madrasa-university students, police members, jail officers and jail guards, public representatives, security experts, academics, NGOs, cultural activists, journalists and religious scholars aimed at building social awareness,” Asaduzzaman said.
