Terror-hit Holey Artisan building in Gulshan getting makeover for owners to move in

The Holey Artisan Bakery and O’ Kitchen, the upscale cafe that was the site of Bangladesh’s deadliest terror attack July 1 last year, is being turned into a home for its owners.

The owners of the two-storey building, Samira Ahmmed and her husband Sadat Mehedi, are putting finishing touches to the renovation. The couple took charge of the building in November last year.

“This is my house now. I am not allowing anyone to enter with camera,” Mehedi told bdnews24.com.

A blue tin fencing now surrounds the house while its entrance on the left side is closed.

The house no. 5 on road no. 79 at Gulshan-2 previously housed the cafe where a group of militants shot dead 23 people including 17 foreigners and a chef in an overnight siege on Jul 1, 2016.

The following morning, commandoes killed the five terrorists.

The boundary wall and other parts of the bakery were damaged, and the furniture ruined.

 

A pathway between the Gulshan Lake and the building is now closed. Barbed wires have been set up by the lake on that side.

Workers were painting the building walls.

Akter Hossain, a security guard, said orders were in place to not let anyone in the building premises or take picture of it.

Five security guards and two gardeners are on duty at the building these days.

The eatery was reopened on a smaller scale at Rangs Arcade in Gulshan Avenue on Jan 10 this year, around six months into the carnage.

The new 500 square-foot bakery can seat 20 guests. It is only a bakery now unlike the old restaurant that had a 50-seat capacity.

Mostly foreign customers thronged the new location recently. Some of the old staffers are still continuing with the team.

Owner Mehedi said it might take him two to three more years to recoup the loss he has incurred.

 

How the mayhem started

A building named, Setara, is situated right next to where the cafe was. Niamul Basir, a security guard of the building, witnessed the blood and gore at close range as he was on duty on that day.

“It was right after Iftar hours when I saw the front gate of the cafe closing. I wondered what had happened.”

“Then, suddenly, I saw a man rolling and groaning on the ground near the gate, blood all over his body. Screams could be heard coming from inside the building. Sensing danger, we shut our gates and contacted police. Police reached the spot around an hour later,” said Basir.

“Many others, both locals and foreigners, wanted to go inside without knowing what was happening there but we stopped them.”

Another two-storey building adjacent to Holey Artisan houses Lake View Clinic, which is also owned by Mehedi. It was not harmed in the attack but one of its windows was crushed by a bullet shot during the anti-terror operation.

A physician of the clinic, Mahbub Uddin, said the police, RAB and other law enforcers took position inside the clinic which was closed during the attack.

The clinic reopened on Nov 13 last year and patients started coming in again from Nov 23, he said.

However, the clinic has a fewer number of patients now than it had before because of the beefed up security in the area.