Following in the footsteps of the jail authorities, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has formed a three-member committee to investigate how two death-row convicts involved in the Holey Artisan attack managed to don caps bearing the symbol of Islamic State (IS) after the verdict. The DMP deputy commissioner (media and public), Masudur Rahman, confirmed this at the DMP media centre yesterday.
DMP joint commissioner Mahbub Alam will be leading the committee, which will submit a report within three working days. Earlier on Wednesday, the jail authorities also set up a three-member probe committee. This committee is led by an additional inspector general and includes a deputy inspector general and an assistant inspector general. The committee will be submitting its report within five working days. Questions have been raised over how the militants managed to smuggle in the IS caps amid tight security.
Rakibul Islam Regan, one of the eight defendants, had been wearing a black-knit prayer cap. After the verdict, Regan flipped the cap inside out, revealing the logo of the infamous terrorist group IS. As the prisoners were led into the van that was to transport them to prison, another condemned—Jahangir Alam alias Rajib Gandhi—was seen wearing the cap.
Witnesses said none of the convicts were wearing the caps when brought before the court on Wednesday morning. It appears that the convicts either carried the caps from the prison or someone gave it to them at the court premises.
Witnesses revealed that after the verdict was delivered, all seven convicts shouted to the lawyers and journalists: “Allahu Akbar! Our victory is near and khilafat will be established in this country one day.” While moving to the prison van, Regan appeared to be wearing the cap. Regan also stood in the dock donning the cap.
According to sources from the jail, prisoners can manage to get things if they pay for them. The inspector general of prisons, Brig. Gen. AKM Mustafa Kamal Pasha, said that the responsibility of the prison officials was to hand over the accused to the police at the prison gate. The police used their own vehicle to transport the prisoners. The chief of the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit, Monirul Islam, said investigations were underway to find out how and from where the cap came and whether there was any negligence on the part of the law enforcers.
On July 1, 2016, five militants held people hostage and opened fire at the Holey Artisan Bakery. Twenty-nine people were killed, including 20 hostages (18 foreigners and two locals), two police officers, five gunmen, and two bakery staff. Two years after the attack, on July 23, 2018, the CTTC unit of DMP identified 21 suspects connected to the attack. The CTTC submitted charges against the eight living suspects. Eight others had been killed in militant raids.
IS had reportedly claimed credit for the attack but the government and security officials have blamed neo-JMB, an offshoot of the banned militant outfit Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), for the deadly siege.