UNB, Dhaka :Security has been beefed up for foreigners at Benapole check post in Jessore and different hotels in Khulna metropolitan area as well as in three upazilas of the district following the Gulshan terrorist attack that left 22 people, including 2 policemen, dead on Friday.The Benapole port authorities have beefed up security for the foreign passengers passing through the Benapole check point. Sources at the immigration also noted that they have enforced special alert at the check post so that any terrorist listed by police can not cross the border. Passports and other documents of those who are going to India are being scrutinized, the sources said. They are attaching exit seal at the passports after scrutinizing those seriously and the addresses and names of the terrorists listed by police have been hung in the front of desk of the immigration officer. Contacted, officer-in-charge of Benapole Check Post Immigration Police Iqbal Hossain on Sunday said surveillance has been extended at the immigration gate so that outside passport brokers can not enter the immigration. In Khulna, security has been strengthened at different hotels of the city for safety of foreigners following the Gulshan attack, said the district’s deputy commissioner Nazmul Ahsan.Police have been deployed at the hotels-Khulna Royal Hotel, Cassel Salam, Western Inn, City Inn, Tiger Garden and Hotel Millennium- from early Saturday, said additional superintendent of police (DB) CA Halim, adding that the foreigners are moving with police protection.There are 230 foreigners in three upazilas-Dacope, Batiaghata and Rupsha-of Khulna district and in various part of Khulna metropolitan, where most of them are Chinese, said police. The foreigners are involved in various sectors, including Christian church, NGO, shrimp business and the Khulna-Mongla rail line project, police added. Earlier on Friday evening, seven gunmen stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery and opened fire and took around 40 people, including restaurant staff and guests-both locals and foreigners-hostage.Twenty hostages-nine Italians, seven Japanese, one Indian, one Bangladeshi-born American and two Bangladeshis-were killed in the terror attack at the restaurant. Besides, two senior police officers-Banani Police Station officer-in-charge Salauddin Ahmed Khan and Detective Branch assistant commissioner Robiul Islam-were killed as they tried to rescue the hostages.Thirteen people, including three foreigners, were rescued while 20 bodies of the hostages were recovered from the restaurant after a successful operation codenamed ‘Thunderbolt’.Six of the seven gunmen were killed and one suspected militant was arrested during the drive.
