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Published : 26 Nov 2019, 08:17 PM
The owners of the building have since renovated it for residential use, but it remains locked and heavily restricted for the most part.
None of the 10 people working as security guards or gardeners at the building and an adjacent clinic were willing to speak about the events that transpired on the evening of July 1, 2016 -- the worst terror attack in Bangladesh.
The building was cordoned off for several months after the incident as law enforcement combed the premises for evidence.
Its owner, Samira Ahmed, and her husband Sadat Mehedi, were handed back possession of the building five months after the attack.
The plot (No. 4) was allotted to Dr Suraiya Zabin for use as a residence-cum-clinic in 1979. In 1982, Lakeview Clinic was built on one side of the plot facing the Gulshan Lake.
File photo
File photo
Samira's husband Sadat Mehedi and his friend Nasimul Alam Parag along with a few other partners later started the Holey Artisan Bakery at a building on the plot in 2014.
The cafe in Dhaka's diplomatic zone became a popular eatery with foreigners because of its food, lakeside view and a grass lawn in front of the building. A pizza corner and an ice-cream parlour were later added.
But the name Holey Artisan would go on to become synonymous with tragedy after the 2016 events, when a group of radical Islamists took around 30 people, mostly foreigners, hostage in the cafe.
The terrorists killed 20 hostages, including 17 foreigners, before army commandos stormed the cafe early next morning, and freed the remaining hostages after killing five militants.
Two police officers were also killed immediately after the siege when the militants hurled grenades at law enforcers who were mobilising for an operation.
RENOVATED AND REINFORCED
There is a walkway along the lake to the east of the building. It was closed after the terrorist attack and is yet to be opened.
Mehedi renovated it to a liveable condition, putting up a high steel fence around the building while removing the special seating facilities on the lawn.
Last Friday, two black-clad security personnel, Nuruzzaman and Md Hossain, were seen guarding the building.
File photo
File photo
The couple ordered the guards not to let anyone enter the building or take photos of it, Hossain said.
“It has been renovated for residential use. Some furniture has been set up. But they only stay here occasionally. They live in a flat in Banani but sometimes they make unannounced visits.”
Samira declined to comment on the issue ahead of a court verdict on the attack on Nov 27.
Mehedi confirmed that they refurbished the building but he too refused to comment on the impending verdict.
NEW HOLEY ARTISAN
The Holey Artisan Bakery was re-launched at a smaller venue at the Rangs Arcade on Gulshan Avenue with seating for 20 people about six months after the attack.
File photo
File photo
THE GRISLY ATTACK
Three years on, people who were in the vicinity on the day of the terror attack still shudder at the thought of the carnage that unfolded at Holey Artisan.
Ayan Md Bijoy, an executive of the Lakeview Clinic, said everyone at the facility was traumatised by the sound of gunshots and blasts on that evening.
The panic-stricken authorities subsequently laid around seven or eight of the clinic's patients on the floor fearing that bullets might pierce through the cabin's windows.
“It was a horrible night. Everyone was evacuated during the commando raid on the café,” Bijoy said.
Six surviving staffers of Holey Artisan are still working at the bakery.
“I don’t want to revisit the events of that day,” said Md Sayeed, one of the survivors.
Anisur Rahman, the caretaker of an adjacent residential building, said apartment rents there have plummeted after tenants left the area despite increased security.
