Dhaka cafe siege suspect Tahmid denied bail

Tahmid Hasib Khan, arrested on suspicion over the Gulshan terror attack, has been denied bail.

He is the son of Fazle Rahim Khan Shahriar, Managing Director of Aftab Group. 

The youth, who studies in Canada, was in Holey Artisan Bakery and O’ Litchen Restaurant when the upscale cafe was besieged by gunmen on the evening of Jul 1.

Two policemen died after being hit by grenade when law enforcers tried to approach the cafe.

Army commandos stormed the restaurant the following morning, killing six including five gunmen who killed 20 hostages, 17 of them foreigners.

Tahmid came out with the freed hostages and was questioned by police’s Detective Branch (DB).

Police had denied having him in custody against claims made by his family.

He was arrested on the night of Aug 2 at Dhaka’s Bashundhara Residential Area, claimed police.

Hasanat Karim, a former teacher of the North South University, who was also in the cafe during the attack, was also arrested on that night, police said.

They were arrested for suspicion under Section-54 of the Penal Code, and taken into remand.

Hasanat was the first person to be shown arrested in the police case started over the attack and taken into remand for eight days.

Another court remanded Tahmid.

On Sunday, he was taken to Dhaka’s Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court where his lawyer Md Masud Arif Bhuiyan Hanif pleaded for bail.    

Metropolitan Magistrate Mahmudul Hasan rejected the plea, court police official Ranap Kumar Bhakta toldbdnews24.com.