At least three Bangladeshis reportedly among hostages killed in Dhaka cafe

At least three Bangladeshis are reportedly among the hostages killed by gunmen who attacked a restaurant slaughtering at least 20 people, mostly foreign nationals.

Faraaz Hossain

Faraaz Hossain, the youngest son to Transcom Group chairman Latifur Rahman’s daughter Simeen Hossain, has been killed, family sources have told bdnews24.com.

The other victim is Ishrat Akhond, a former head of a Dhaka art gallery who worked at different companies as a marketing professional, her friends have confirmed.

The third victim has been identified as 20-year-old Abinta Kabir, whose father is son to Manzur and Nilu Murshed of Lavender, a super store in Gulshan.

Faraaz had driven himself to the Holey Artisan Bakery located inside Dhaka’s diplomatic zone on Friday evening before seven heavily armed attackers stormed it taking the diners hostage. 

“He was the youngest of two brothers, he was a lively youth," said Syed Md Tahnun Ishtiaque Riyadh, a marketing executive for the conglomerate. "He was working as an intern at Transcom group.”

Akhond identified herself as human resources director at ZXY International FZCO and described herself on her Facebook page as an arts provocateur at the Institute of Asian Creatives. She was formerly marketing director at Westin Hotels and a manager at Grameenphone.

Witnesses said the attackers shouted 'Allahu Akbar' (God is great) on their way in and started firing blanks before taking the guests inside hostage.

Ishrat Akhond

Abinta Kabir

Police moved in soon after leading to an exchange of fire, in which several police officers got injured, two of them dying at a nearby hospital later.

The overnight standoff ended almost 12 hours later, when army commandos launched ‘Operation Thunderbolt’ on Saturday morning to free the hostages.

The army said that they rescued 13 hostages and found bodies of 20 people inside the restaurant, who they said had been slaughtered with sharp weapons late Friday night, almost immediately after the attackers had barged in.

An army spokesperson, director of military operations, claimed at a media briefing that all 20 were foreign nationals, but later an ISPR statement did not rule out local victims.    

The army spokesperson said that only one of the seven gunmen was captured alive.