Hasnat, Tahmid get acquittal from section-54

A court here on Wednesday acquitted ex-North South University teacher Abul Hasnat Rezaul Karim and Toronto University student Tahmid Hasib Khan of the charges brought against them under section 54 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) in connection with Gulshan terror attack.

The acquittal sets Tahmid free but Hasan will remain behind the bars as he was shown arrested in a case filed on July 4 with Gulshan Police Station under the Anti-Terrorism Act.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate M Nur Nabi passed the orders after a hearing in the morning, UNB reports.

Tahmid, who secured bail from a Dhaka court earlier on October 2, was present at the court during the hearing.

A team of Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) arrested Hasnat and Tahmid from the city's Gulshan and Bashundhara areas respectively on August 3 over their suspected link to the attack.

They were shown arrested under Section 54 of the CrPC.

Abul Hasnat and Tahmid Hasib were rescued along with 11 others during the commando operation at the Holey Artisan Bakery at the city's diplomatic zone Gulshan on July 2 following a 12-hour hostage standoff.

Their family members claimed that they had remained traceless since then.

However, law enforcement agencies said that they set them free after interrogation over the café' attack.

Twenty hostages, including 17 foreign nationals, were killed by militants, while five militants and one suspected associate of the attackers were killed during a commando operation in the café on July 2.