Police holding on to Dhaka cafe 'hostage' Tahmid's passport to stop him from leaving country

Police say they have kept the passport of Gulshan cafe 'hostage' Tahmid Hasib Khan to make sure he stays in Bangladesh even though a Dhaka court has cleared him of all charges related to the July 1 attack by Islamist militants.

Tahmid was arrested on Aug 3 as a suspect in a case initiated under Section 54 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, allowing police to arrest suspects without warrants, over the attack.

On Wednesday, a Dhaka metropolitan magistrate’s court cleared him of the charges in the case. But he still remains a suspect as he is accused in an anti-terrorism case filed by police.

Tahmid, who is a student at a Canadian university, was released from jail on Sunday after he secured bail.

Former North South University teacher Hasanat Rezaul Karim was also arrested with Tahmid in the same case.

Hasanat and Tahmid were among the 13 hostages freed from Holey Artisan Bakery and O' Kitchen on the morning of July 2 following the carnage of the preceding night.

At least 20 hostages, including 17 foreign nationals and two policemen, were murdered by militants before the rescue raid.

Some of the photos of the attack disseminated on social media had shown Tahmid carrying a gun in company with Hasanat and Rohan Ibn Imtiaz, one of the attackers killed in the commando operation.

Questions have been raised by different quarters after Tahmid was cleared of all charges while there has been no development regarding Hasanat.

But police officials said Tahmid was still under observation and he had been told that he would have to come and meet the investigators immediately if summoned.

The police counter-terrorism unit chief, Md Monirul Islam, on Thursday told bdnews24.com that the law enforcers had kept Tahmid's passport "so he won't be able to leave the country even if he wants to."

The unit is leading the investigation in the anti-terrorism case, in which Hasanat was later shown arrested.

Regarding the photos of Tahmid along with one of the attackers, police officials said the youth was a 'victim of the situation'.

However, there is still a charge against Tahmid of hiding information from the police.

A court has ordered the law enforcers to submit their findings into the allegations on Oct 16.

Monirul Islam said, "There is no chance of his going abroad until the matter is fully resolved. His passport is with us. Also, the investigation is still ongoing.

"We have also kept him under round-the-clock surveillance," he added.