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Published : 01 Jul 2025, 01:26 PM
Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Sheikh Md Sazzat Ali says he does not see any presence of militants in Bangladesh on the anniversary of the grisly Holey Artisan attack that sent shockwaves across the globe.
“There are no militants in Bangladesh. There are only robbers,” he said.
On Jul 1, 2016, a group of five young militants stormed into the Holey Artisan Bakery restaurant in Dhaka's Gulshan armed with pistols, submachine guns and sharp weapons.
They killed 20 people, including 17 foreign nationals inside.
Among the dead were nine Italians, seven Japanese, one Indian, two Bangladeshis, and one Bangladeshi-American. In addition, two police officers were killed while responding to the attack.
Amid the rise of extremism around the world, the suicide attack by a group of young people changed the security scenario in Bangladesh. That night, the international extremist organisation Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for the Holey Artisan attack.
However, Bangladesh intelligence brushed aside the claim, saying that an organised group of Bangladeshi militants, called “Neo-JMB”, had carried out the attack.
Since the changeover in power in Bangladesh, the police force itself has taken a differing perspective about militancy and terrorism in the country.
On this day last year, Md Asaduzzaman, the then head of the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit (CTTC), said that despite the success in suppressing militancy after the Holey Artisan incident, the sources of militancy still remained.
A year later, DMP Commissioner Sazzat Ali was asked if the police force still had initiatives in place to prevent militancy.
In reply, the commissioner said: “No militants exist now, but we need to prevent muggings. We only need to consider curbing militancy when we have it.”
He said, “During the Awami League rule, they staged dramas about militancy and killed young people. What militants are you talking about?”
WAS THE HOLEY ARTISAN INCIDENT FAKE?
When asked, Sazzat Ali said, “I’m not aware of the incident; but there are no militants in Bangladesh. In Bangladesh, some people mug others to earn their living.”
Every year, senior officials of the police paid tribute to the two police officers killed in the attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery by placing wreaths at the “Deepta Shapath” sculpture, erected at Gulshan Police Station in remembrance of the attack.
A tradition of paying tributes to officials of the Italian, Japanese and US embassies at House No. 5 on Road 79 in Gulshan, where the bakery was located, on Jul 1, every year, was also introduced.
However, this year, no such programme will be held, said DMP Deputy Commissioner (Media) Talebur Rahman.
After the fall of the Awami League government in the face of a mass uprising, there were reports of attacks, vandalism and arson attacks at most police stations in the country. Amid that chaos, the “Deepto Shapath” sculpture at Gulshan Police Station was demolished and posters of the banned outfit Hizb ut Tahrir were put up there.
No one from the law enforcing agencies made a statement about who was responsible for the incident amid the turbulent socio-political scenario in August last year.
Holey Artisan was attacked during the month of Ramadan. The law enforcing agencies, media personnel, workers and millions of people spent a sleepless night as the incident played out. All eyes were glued to television screens.
Law enforcing agents drew up various plans to investigation the situation inside and bring it under control. Top officials held meetings in phases. But as time passed, they failed to reach a decision, and therefore, the Army was called in. The next day, the army's commando operation began before sunrise.
In that operation, the commandos took control of Holey Artisan and the extreme crisis ended with the death of five militants.
The five militants killed were Nibraj Islam, Shafiqul Islam alias Ujjal, Mir Sameh Mobasher, Rohan Ibne Imtiaz and Khairul Islam alias Payel.
It was eventually discovered that they all left home and had gone missing a few days before the attack. Some of the families even filed a GD (general diary) at police stations.
The incident that occurred in the diplomatic neighbourhood of Gulshan shocked the entire world. As 18 foreign nationals were killed, the international media also covered the news on a large scale.
The trial of the case filed at Gulshan Police Station after the Holey Artisan attack lasted for about three and a half years. Police also arrested some people over the incident.
On Nov 27, 2019, the Special Anti-Terrorism Tribunal in Dhaka sentenced seven people to death.
However, the High Court reduced the death sentences for seven convicts to life imprisonment on Oct 30, 2023, in a verdict over the death reference and appeal.
The convicts are Jahangir Hossain alias Rajib Gandhi, Rakibul Hasan Regan, Aslam Hossain alias Rashedul Islam alias Rash, Abdus Sobur Khan alias Soheil Mahfuz, Hadisur Rahman, Shariful Islam aka Khalid and Mamunur Rashid Ripon.
The law enforcing agencies had been actively attempting to preventing militancy for a decade and a half before the incident. However, they had no clue that such a major attack like the one at Holey Artisan was about to take place.
The anti-militancy initiatives were redesigned after the incident. In addition to the Rapid Action Battalion's special wing, and DMP’s CTTC, a separate police department called the Anti-Terrorism Unit began work to curb militancy.
Regarding the current activities of the CTTC, Commissioner Sazzat Ali said: "They have been told that there are no militants in Bangladesh. So they don’t need to nab militants. You people should catch muggers. To us, they are the militants."
The Commission of Inquiry into Forced Disappearances, formed to investigate hundreds of allegations of forced disappearances over the last decade and a half, also said that the Awami League government, using the threat of Islamic extremism under the guise of anti-militancy operations, gave forced disappearances a “systematic and institutionalised structure”.
However, acknowledging that the threat of terrorism is not a lie, the commission's chairman, retired Justice Mainul Islam, said at a press conference on June 19: "Terrorism is a real threat across the world, and Bangladesh is no exception. Incidents like the 2016 attack on the Holey Artisan are proof of this. However, to counter this threat, the state's integrity, commitment to human rights, and adherence to the legal process are essential. When the government uses the anti-terrorism campaign as a shield to suppress political opponents, it destroys the order of law, institutions, and public trust."
