One of the most brutal and despicable terrorist attacks in the history of Bangladesh took place at Holy Artisan Bakery. The attack on the night of July 1, 2016 shocked the entire country and the world. Even before the attack, no one had an idea that such a brutal attack could happen in the holy month of Ramadan in the posh area of Gulshan of the capital.
In this attack, 13 people were rescued alive by the law and order forces, which were well appreciated in the world media. However, this praise was overshadowed by the news of 24 deaths. After the attack, an anti-terrorist operation was conducted across the country on the orders of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The members of the law and order forces of the country were able to eliminate the militants from the country after a long journey.
The painful memories of that attack, which happened seven years ago, still haunt me.
How the attack was planned:
Although the July 1 attacks, the militants had already prepared. In March 2016, Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury and Shariful Islam Khaled decided to attack. First it was decided to attack the diplomatic area, then the militants planned to attack where the foreigners are most.
For this, 5 militants were given suicide training. Tamim Chowdhury served as the main coordinator of the attack. The Holy Artisan restaurant was renovated several days before the attack. The night of Qadr, the holiest night of the Muslim Ummah in the month of Ramadan, was chosen for the attack. Militants entered Holy Artisan while firing. Two constables and a passerby were initially injured on the spot.
How the police get the news:
Soon after the two constables were injured, the police began to suspect something sinister. The entire restaurant was then surrounded by law enforcement personnel. At 10:35 PM, two grenades were thrown at law enforcement personnel from inside the restaurant. Banani Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Salahuddin and Police Detective Branch (DB) AC Rabiul were seriously injured. Later they died while undergoing treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
Holy Artisan:
At around 11:00 PM, Director General of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) Benazir Ahmed told the media that 'at least 20 foreigners and some Bangladeshis are trapped inside. For the safety of the lives of those inside, we are trying to talk to the misguided attackers.
Armed forces in action:
Army, Air Force and Navy commandos came to the spot to participate in the operation along with Police, RAB and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) at 12:00 am. The operation was named 'Operation ThunderBolt'.
Army conducts Operation ThunderBolt:
The activities of the militants were reported around 1.30 am. The militants killed 20 people including 17 foreign nationals in the night. Among them, nine are Italians, seven are Japanese and one is Indian. The remaining three were Bangladeshis.
What happened in 'Operation ThunderBolt'?:
The militants were given an opportunity to surrender overnight. But as they persisted in their position, 'Operation ThunderBolt' was launched on July 2 at 7:40 AM under the command of Army Para Commandos. 5 militants were killed in just 15 minutes.
The army raided the restaurant:
13 people including one Japanese and two Sri Lankans were rescued alive from inside the restaurant after the rescue operation ThunderBolt. At that time, one person was arrested as a suspected terrorist. 24 people were killed in this 12-hour hostage incident. 17 of them are foreigners.
Who were killed?
24 people were killed in this attack. Among them, nine are Italians, seven are Japanese and one is Indian. Besides, there were a Bangladeshi-US dual citizen, two ordinary citizens, two employees of Holy Artisan and two police officers. Besides, five militants were killed. At least 20 policemen were injured in this incident.
As in the judgment stage of the Holy Artisan case:
A case was registered at Gulshan police station on July 4, 3 days after the attack. Sub-Inspector of Police Ripon Kumar Das has been charged with killing 5 militants and unknown persons. Inspector Humayun Kabir of the counter-terrorism unit of the police has been assigned the responsibility of this case. On July 1, 2018, 21 people including Neo JMB were accused and a charge sheet was given against 8 people alive.
Accused 7 accused:
Out of the 8 surviving accused, 6 are shown arrested. Among the accused, Shariful Islam and Mamunur Rashid were absconding. The formal trial of the case began on November 26, 2018 after the court framed charges against the 8 accused. Then, in 52 working days, the case came to the stage of judgment after witness testimony, defense and arguments of the defendants.
Who were the defendants in the case:
New JMB leader, arms and explosives supplier Hadisur Rahman Sagar, Bangladeshi-origin Canadian citizen Tamim Chowdhury's associate Aslam Hossain alias Rashed alias Abu Jarra alias Rash, militants Rakibul Hasan Reagan, Jahangir Alam alias Rajiv alias Rajiv Gandhi, one of the planners of the attack Abdus Sabur Khan (Hasan ) alias Sohail, head of arms and explosives wing of the new JMB Mizanur Rahman alias Bara Mizan Mahfuz, Mamunur Rashid and Shariful Islam.
Taking evidence of witnesses:
On December 3, 2018, the case began with the testimony of the plaintiff SI Ripon Kumar Das. After almost 1 year in October 2019, the testimony of the Investigating Officer and the interrogation ended. The case was readied for judgment on October 30 with the defense of the defendants and receipt of arguments on the following 5 dates. At that time, out of the 211 witnesses of the charge sheet, the tribunal accepted the testimony of 113 people.
The verdict of this case announced on November 27:
The court ordered 7 accused to walk to the gallows and also ordered each convict to pay a fine of Taka 50 thousand. Among the 8 accused in the charge sheet, the court acquitted one accused named Mizanur Rahman alias Bara Mizan.