The family of Tahmid Hasib Khan, a student of the University of Toronto taken into police custody for questioning on the Gulshan attack, has sought Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau's intervention. Hasnat Karim, a survivor of the Gulshan attack, was also picked up by the police for interrogation. His family is planning legal action to know Hasnat’s whereabouts.
Both Tahmid's and Hasnat's families said that they have not returned home. However, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) deputy commissioner Masudur Rahman said: “All the rescued hostages were released after being questioned about the incident before Eid." The family of
Tahmid has written to Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, said Marlys Edwardh, a lawyer with Goldblatt Partners in Toronto, CBC News reported citing The Canadian Press.
Talha Khan, brother of Tahmid, is a Canadian citizen and has sought help of the Canadian premier. The Independent contacted his family and learnt that Tahmid’s father has been hospitalised with chest pain in Dhaka, while his mother has suffered an emotional breakdown.
As per CBC News, Talha, with the help of Edwardh, wrote to Canada’s global affairs minister Stéphane Dion and acting Bangladesh high commissioner Nayem Uddin Ahmed on Tuesday. Neither of them has responded. The University of Toronto president, Meric Gertler, too has written to Dion.
Tahmid is a permanent resident of Canada.
Canada’s global affairs spokesperson Austin Jean told CBC News in an email: “There are limits to what any country can do for individuals who are not citizens of that country.”
The police earlier indicated Tahmid as a suspect, but later named him as a rescued hostage. They said he was released after debriefing.
Tahmid came to Dhaka to celebrate Eid with his family. He was at Holey Artisan Bakery to meet two of his friends when terrorists stormed in and killed 20 hostages. He was detained immediately after the attack.
“He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Talha said. “Nothing in his life points towards any sort of extremism,” he added.
Rezaul Karim, father of Hasnat, told The Independent that he would send another set of letters to the Detective Branch of the police, as well as to the police headquarters.
“I’ve already written to the inspector general of police (IGP) and the DMP commissioner, but haven’t heard from them. At this point, we’ve no option but to send another set of letters,” he said.