Tahmid Hasib Khan, a suspect in the Gulshan Holey Artisan Bakery militant attack, was released from prison on bail yesterday. The Toronto University student was released from Dhaka Central Jail at about 10:15pm yesterday, said family sources. Dhaka Central Jail Senior Jail Superintendent Jahangir Kabir confirmed the release of Tahmid.
Earlier, a Dhaka court granted bail to Tahmid in a case filed under Section 54 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). Dhaka metropolitan magistrate Laskar Sohel Rana passed the order following a bail petition filed by Tahmid’s counsel. On September 28, inspector Humyan Kabir of the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC)
unit of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) submitted a report to a court to relieve Tahmid, a Bangladeshi-origin Canadian, from the charge. On August 20, a court sent Tahmid to jail rejecting his bail pleas when he was produced before it on completion of his remand period in connection with the Gulshan terror attack.
Earlier, the court had placed Khan on a six-day remand in connection with the case.
A team of the CTTC unit arrested Tahmid on August 3 from the city's Bashundhara area for his suspected link to the attack. He was shown arrested under Section 54 of the CrPC.
Twenty hostages, including 17 foreign nationals, were killed by the militants, while five militants and a suspected associate of the attackers were killed during the commando operation inside the café on July 2.
After Khan was detained, family members repeatedly claimed that he was not involved in the attack. Khan’s family, friends and relatives have speculated that he was a suspect because his age is similar of that of the attackers and some pictures had shown him moving around with the attackers. He was also shown carrying arms inside the restaurant a few hours before the Army-led commandos rescued the hostages after killing the militants.
Some of the terrorists were also educated abroad. Slain Bangladeshi Canadian Tamim Chowdhury, also known as Shaykh Abu Ibrahim al-Hanif, the reported leader of the Islamic State-affiliated group in Bangladesh, was also living in Canada. These were the other major reasons for suspecting Tahmid Khan, they claimed.
His father Fazle Rahim Khan Shahriar, a well-known businessman, met home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal in an effort to expedite his release. In addition to the family’s efforts, Khan’s friends have also launched a ‘Free Tahmid’ Facebook group seeking his release.