Militants tried to stigmatise secular Bangladesh: Court

A Dhaka court has sentenced seven people to death for their involvement in the horrific militant attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery at Gulshan in the capital that left 22 people dead.

Judge Md Majibur Rahman of Dhaka Anti-terrorism Special Tribunal pronounced the verdict on Wednesday noon in presence of the accused in the crowded courtroom.

The tribunal acquitted Mizanur Rahman alias Boro Mizan from the charge framed under section 6 (2) (a) of Anti-Terrorism Act 2009.

The court ordered as saying, “Let them be hanged by the neck till they are dead.”

In observing the verdict, Judge Majibur Rahman said, "The militants tried to tarnish the image of the secular Bangladesh through the ignominious attack. There is no room for compassion for those who have carried out such a heinous attack and have shown the ultimate manifestation of savagery. ”

"The militants carried out brutal, hellish and monstrous killings at Holey Artisan Bakery." They caused the final outbreak of atrocities in the name of so-called Jihad. The aim of the militants was to convey the existence of IS (Islamic State) in Bangladesh through this attack. The militants tried to disrupt public safety by establishing Jihad," said the court.

Judge Majibur Rahman also said, “Tamim Chowdhury was the mastermind behind the attack and he coordinated the whole incident. Members of the neo-JMB, comprising a section of the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), have launched a barbaric attack on Holey Artisan Bakery to attract the attention of the international terrorist organization IS. The attacks showed the cruelty and brutality of militancy. ”

The court also observed, "When innocent people came to Holey Artisan for dinner, they suddenly swooped on them as a form of terrorism." Militants executed killings in front of the children. They chopped the bodies with sharp weapons to ensure death."

On July 1, 2016, militants killed 20 innocent people, most of them foreigners. 

Two police officials - ASP Rabiul Karim and OC Salahuddin Khan - valiantly laid down their lives while trying to save people there. 

Later, five militants - Rohan Ibn Imtiaz, Mir Sameh Mobassher, Nibras Islam, Shafikul Islam alias Uzzal and Khairul Islam alias Payel - were killed in a commando operation led by army personnel.

Police filed the case under the anti-terror act with Gulshan Police Station. 

The trial was initiated on November 26, 2018, by framing charges against the eight accused on July 23, 2018.

On November 17, Judge of the Dhaka Anti-terrorism Special Tribunal Mohammad Majibur Rahman set November 27 for delivering its verdict in the sensational case after concluding the law-point argument of the defence counsel.

A total of 113 out of 211 witnesses have testified in the case.