Staff Reporter :
A death-row convict of the Holey Artisan Bakery attack case was seen wearing a cap of international militant group-Islamic State (IS) at court premises on Wednesday.
Rakibul Hasan Regan Aslam Hossain alias Rash, who is one of the seven convicts sentenced to death, was also seen chanting Takbir ‘Allahu Akbar,’ usually translated as ‘God is the greatest’. He put on a black cap while he was getting on the lift.
That singular moment symbolic of the arrogant unrepentance of the convicts raised some questions.
How did Regan bring the cap into the court? No one, not even law enforcers, have an answer.
Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Anisul Huq on Wednesday said he is satisfied with the proceedings and finally the judgement in Holey Artisan Bakery attack case.
Expressing his happiness over the judgement, the law minister said one of the reasons of his satisfaction is that it is being able to complete trial of such sensational cases.
While replying a question on how a convict managed to wear a cap of IS in police custody, the law minister said he would take initiative to probe the incident right after the end of this press briefing.
Inspector General (IG) of Prisons Brigadier General Mustafa Kamal Pasha said, “We have formed a three-member committee led by the Additional IG of prisons to investigate the matter. The committee has been asked to submit their report within five days.
Mahbubul Islam, jailer of Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj, said, “We handed them over to the representative of detectives and SB [Special Branch] of police after searching them. We have all the video footages which show that they left without having any such caps on them.”
He also said there was no scope of collecting the cap from within the prison
Meanwhile, Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit Chief Monirul Islam, said, “IS does not use any such cap. We are looking into the matter.”
Regarding the cap with Islamic State emblem on one of the convict’s head during the verdict, the CTTC chief said, “We will investigate whether this cap is an indicator of the Islamic States or not and we will take legal action if any negligence of duty is found.”
“The people of the country dislike Islamic State leaders and no one will accept their message,” he said during a briefing at Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s media center today after the verdict.
Jafar Hossain, Deputy Commissioner (Prosecution Division) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said “We are scrutinising CCTV and media footages to know where from Regan got the cap during the verdict announcement.
“We don’t know from where or how he collected the tupi [prayer cap],” he said, adding, they would examine the footages and then take action in this regard.
Seven militants were sentenced to death for their involvement in the 2016 Holey Artisan Café attack that left 22 people, including 17 foreigners, dead.
Dhaka Anti-terrorism Special Tribunal Judge Mohammad Mujibur Rahman sentenced seven persons to death in the sensational Holey Artisan attack case. The court acquitted another accused Mizanur Rahman alias Boro Mizan of the charge in the case.
The death row convicts are- Jahangir Alam alias Rajib Gandhi, alleged recruiter of the café attackers, Rakibul Hasan Regan Aslam Hossain alias Rash, one of the alleged planners; Abdus Sabur Khan alias Sohel Mahfuz, reported grenade supplier; and Hadisur Rahman Sagor, Rakibul Hasan Regan, so-called religious trainer, and Shariful Islam Khaled and Mamunur Rashid Ripon.
