Slain Holey Artisan chef Saiful will ‘return home’, his 3-year-old son believes

If anyone asks “Hasan”, the 3-year-old son of Saiful Islam Chowkider, the chef killed in the 2016 Holey Artisan Bakery terrorist attack, where his father is, the simple answer is: “Father is there.”

Whenever he sees any helicopter hovering in the sky, he says, “Father is coming on the helicopter.”

Hasan sounds convinced that his father will return home one day.

Saiful’s widow Sonia Akter, who was seven months into pregnancy during the attack, broke down in tears while describing her son’s emotions about his father.

Saiful was shot dead alongside five militants in an army commando raid to free hostages from the cafe.

Police initially accused Saiful along with the five attackers in a case over the attack on the upscale Gulshan cafe.

The pizza-maker was later dropped from the list of suspects as he was proved innocent after an investigation.

Zakir Hossain Shawon, a kitchen worker, was critically wounded during the carnage. He died 10 days later.

The investigation did not find any evidence of their links to terrorism. They were just victims of the incident, the charge sheet mentioned.

Saiful is the second of the five children of late Abul Hashem Chowkider. He hailed from Kolukathi village in Shariatpur. After living in Germany for 10 years, he joined Holey Artisan as a pizza chef in early 2015.

The bdnews24.com correspondent visited Saiful's home recently ahead of the verdict scheduled for Wednesday.

Sonia was in front of the house with her son.

Pointing to her son, Sonia said, "He always says his father is in Dhaka. And sometimes he says his father is abroad. When any helicopter flies over the house, he says dad will come on the helicopter. If new clothes are bought for him, he says his father sent these. ”

Asked about the verdict, she demanded death sentence to the suspects.

“My son is completely innocent. So we wanted the body back, but the body was not returned to us. What else can we say, as the body was not given back even after so many requests? And what will be the benefit of reporting these?” Somera Begum, the disgruntled mother of Saiful, asked.

After Saiful's death, Sonia runs the family sewing clothes and with the help of relatives.

Of her three children, “Samia”, 12, is a sixth grader and “Ilmi”, 7, reads in class four at a kindergarten school in the neighbourhood.