Ex-NSU teacher Hasanat first arrestee in Gulshan attack case: Police

Former North South University teacher Hasanat Rezaul Karim is the first suspect to be arrested in police’s case on Holey Artisan Bakery.

He has been taken to court with a plea for a ten-day remand to question him, Monirul Islam, Dhaka police counter-terrorism chief told bdnews24.com on Saturday. 

Police want Tahmid Hasib Khan, the expatriate student from Canada, on remand for seven days.

But he will be shown arrested on suspicion, under Section-54, said Monirul.

Hasanat and Tahmid were in the cafe inside Dhaka’s diplomatic zone when it was taken over by Islamist gunmen on the evening of July 1.

The siege ended the next day after army commandos stormed the cafe and killed six including five gunmen. 

Twenty hostages, 17 of them foreigners, had been killed by the militants in the attack that was claimed by the so-called Islamic State.  

As many as 32 persons, including 13 rescued hostages, were taken to the Detective Branch’s offices after the operation.

Police then questioned them and released all but Hasanat and Tahmid. Their families said the two had not returned.

Hasanat was arrested from near Gulshan’s Aarong outlet and Tahmid was picked up from Bashundhara Residential Area on the night of Aug 3, claimed the police.

Inspector General of Police (IGP) AKM Shahidul Hoque had told an earlier briefing that Hasanat was not free of suspicion.

“His past records and his behaviour during the situation gives rise to suspicion, he is not beyond it. We are trying to get concrete evidence against him.

“We can take him into custody whenever we feel that it is necessary.”

Hasanat, a UK-passport holder, was seen smoking while talking to two persons on the cafe’s rooftop during the deadly terror siege.

His family claims they were in the restaurant to celebrate his daughter’s birthday.

An amateur video of the cafe during the siege, taken from a nearby building, put Hasanat under suspicion on social media.      

He was let off by North South University for alleged links with extremist group Hijbut Tahrir in 2012, it was reported in the media.  

One of the attackers shot dead by commandos, Nibras Islam, had also studied in the private university before moving abroad to Malaysia. 

Tahmid, a student of Toronto University, was in the restaurant to have Iftar with his friends, according to his family.