E-Paper
Two foreign nationals arrested for Dhaka attack
DHAKA: Bangladeshi police on Thursday said they had formally arrested two foreign nationals of Bangladeshi origin in connection with the July 1 attack on the Holey
DHAKA: Bangladeshi police on Thursday said they had formally arrested two foreign nationals of Bangladeshi origin in connection with the July 1 attack on the Holey Artisan bakery that left 20 hostages dead.
Hasnat Karim, a university teacher with British citizenship, and Tahmid Hasib Khan, a student of the University of Toronto have been detained by security agencies shortly after the attack but their whereabouts were not known for the past few weeks.
Dhaka metropolitan police spokesman Masudur Rahman said the duo had been arrested.
They were produced before a court in Dhaka on Thursday and police sought their remand for 10 days.
Dhaka’s Metropolitan Magistrate Nurunnahar Yasmin granted police permission to interrogate both for eight days.
Khan and Karim were present in the cafe in the elite Gulshan area on the day of the attack.
Karim was a former teacher of North South University of Dhaka, where at least one of the attackers had studied.
Amateur videos shot by people living near the cafe had shown Karim speaking with the attackers even while the siege was on.
Police also said there were photographs showing Karim smoking on the rooftop of the building with two of the attackers standing behind him.
The families of both the arrested had complained that they were not informed of their whereabouts. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch had called on Bangladeshi authorities to clarify about their status.
The IS had claimed the attack. It had emerged that Tamim Chaudhury, a Canadian national of Bangladeshi origin, was the leader of IS in Bangladesh.
The Bangladesh government had rejected the claim, saying that local militants were responsible for the attack.
Hours after his arrest, Karim’s family said he was innocent and should be released immediately. “He and his family were celebrating his daughter’s 13th birthday when they became victims of a terrorist attack,” the family lawyer said in a statement.
Karim lived in UK for nearly 20 years and returned to Bangladesh a few years ago. Later, he was under investigation for his alleged involvement with the banned Hizbut Tahrir.Khan was a permanent resident of Canada.
His father was a businessman in Bangladesh and Khan had arrived in Dhaka a day before the attack.
(With agency inputs)
