Bangladesh cafe 'terrorist' Rohan’s father apologises to nation

The father of a young gunman who along with four others carried out a deadly attack on a Gulshan cafe has apologised to the nation, saying he has failed as a father.

Rohan Ibn Imtiaz has been identified as one of the terrorists who slaughtered 20 hostages inside Holey Artisan Bakery and O’ Kitchen on Friday night, before being shot dead by commandos the next morning.

His father SM Imtiaz Khan Babul was talking to reporters at their home on Tuesday.

“This is so unfortunate, hurtful and embarrassing. I saw on television and Facebook that my son is involved.

“I’m a failed father. I apologise to everyone,” said Babul, a leader of the ruling Awami League.

“The boy who could not kill a cockroach at ninth grade was holding such a huge weapon. Who supplies these weapons? Who trains them, has given them money?

“I urge that the authorities to find these people,” he said.  

Babul was youth and sports secretary for the now defunct committee for un-bifurcated Dhaka.

He is now deputy secretary general of Bangladesh Olympics Association and general secretary of Bangladesh Cyclist Federation.

Publishing the photos of five attackers including Rohan, jihadist threat monitoring group SITE Intelligence Group had said Middle East-based radical group Islamic State had released them and claimed credit for the killings.

Rohan was a former student of Scholastica, a top English medium school in Dhaka, where his mother teaches mathematics. The 20-year-old was also a business student at BRAC University.

He had been identified after people who knew him, on seeing the SITE photos, shared a combination of the picture of him holding a gun and another photo of him with his parents on Facebook.

However, after police released the photos of five attackers killed during Saturday morning's rescue operation, his family members had said that Rohan was not among them.

His father Imtiaz Khan Babul on Tuesday told bdnews24.com: "Authorities have told us that Rohan's body is being kept at the CMH. But they didn't say when the body will be handed over."

A relative said they had been told that photo of Rohan's dead body had not been released as 'his face was badly distorted'.

Seventeen of the hostages killed by the five terrorists were foreign nationals. Three others were Bangladeshis, one of whom was a naturalised American as well.

Apart from Rohan, two other gunmen were also identified as Nibras Islam and Mir Samih Mubasshir, all from well-to-do families, through posts on Facebook made by people who knew them.

According to their families, Rohan and Mubasshir, both former classmates of Scholastica, had been missing for the past several months. Both families had lodged police complaints.

Bogra police identified two of the terrorists as Md Khairuzzaman of Shahjahanpur Upazila and Shafikul Islam Ujjal of Dhunat Upazila, from the photos released in Dhaka. Both of them were madrasa students.

In his General Diary (GD) filed on Jan 4, Rohan's father had said that he and his wife went to India for medical treatment on Dec 25 last year. They were told over phone that Rohan had left home on Dec 30 and never returned.

Imtiaz Khan Babul lodged the GD three days after he came back on Jan 1.

Babul told bdnews24.com he knew that sons of many others including former military and civilian officials had also gone missing. He still has contact with some of the parents.

"They have gone missing just like my son. Their families are also banging their heads on different doors to find the children. But they are not coming in front of the media, they are not releasing their children's photos.

"They are not coming forward because they are afraid their children will be killed," Babul said.

He said the father of one of those youths had once decided to run an advertisement in newspapers announcing Tk 500,000 in reward for help to find his son.

But the man backed out when others warned him that the move could lead to his son's death.

Babul told journalists to speak to the law-enforcing agencies to find the total number of 'missing youths'.

The Awami League leader said, "My family is a pro-Liberation War family. Still, my son got involved in such a major incident within six months. It should be looked into how that had happened."

According to him, Rohan had started saying prayers from fifth grade along with his grandfather. His two sisters aside, the 20-year-old had no close friends.

"By the time Rohan got admission to the (BRAC) university, many of his old friends had left for the US. He may have made some friends in the university, but I don't know any of them. None of them came to our house either," Babul said.

On being asked, he said Rohan had never gone abroad. But he was planning to send his son to the US to do MBA after Rohan finished BBA from BRAC University.

Showing reporters Rohan's bedroom, Babul said his son had no personal computer. "He may have used his phone to use internet."

The ruling party leader said he was a teacher in his early life. "My students are established in top places right now, running the country. But seeing my son's state... this is very embarrassing.

"That's why I will ask all the parents to be more caring about their children. Look after them even if they get older."

Babul said his wife had fallen sick on learning about Rohan's act of terrorism and been hospitalised.

"I hope no father will become the victim of an incident like this," he said.

[Additional reporting by Salauddin Wahed Pritom and Sajidul Haque]