Hasnat, Tahmid in police custody: DMP chief

HRW calls for ensuring due rights to duo

Differing with the earlier claims of other police officers, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) commissioner yesterday admitted that former North South University teacher Abul Hasnat R Karim and Tahmid Hasib Khan, two hostages rescued from Holey Artisan Bakery, were in the custody of law enforcers for interrogation. The police chief, however, did not disclose where they have been kept. Earlier, DMP spokesman Masudur Rahman and other officers had repeatedly claimed that there were no rescued hostages in police custody. The police had released all of them, they told journalists.
However, families of the duo claimed that they had not returned home after the July 1 attack in the city’s diplomatic area. But the commissioner set to rest all speculation at a press briefing at the DMP Media Centre in the city yesterday. He, however, evaded a direct question on why Karim and Khan were being interrogated. He only said: “The investigators will be able to answer the question.” The top cop claimed that there had been a lot of progress in the investigation into the incident. About the mastermind of the Gulshan attack, he said law enforcers were trying to find out who had supported and extended patronage to the attackers, as “it was not possible for only five to six militants to carry out such a deadly attack”.
He said all the attackers were Bangladeshis and they were recruited and trained in the country. The alleged failure and negligence on the part of law enforcers in preventing the attack was also being investigated, he added. Meanwhile, New York-based rights body Human Rights Watch yesterday said the authorities in Bangladesh should ensure due rights to two detainees who had been held hostage by armed gunmen during the July 1 siege on the Holey Artisan Bakery Café in Gulshan of the capital.
“Bangladeshi authorities should guarantee all due process rights of two detainees who had been held hostage………. The two men, Hasanat Karim and Tahmid Khan, were initially held for questioning by authorities but have neither been charged nor released,” the HRW said.  “All hostages, except for Karim, 47, and Khan, 22, were released on July 3. Their families have had little or no official information about their safety and whereabouts since,” it said.
Saying that the detainees have not been produced promptly before a judge, HRW Asia Director Brad Adams said the authorities should do things “in a rights-respecting manner”. “Karim and Khan have not had access to a lawyer, and the police continue to deny holding them although they are clearly still being held by the Detective Branch. The authorities need to either charge or release them immediately,” he said.

 

Hasnat, Tahmid in police custody: DMP chief

HRW calls for ensuring due rights to duo

Differing with the earlier claims of other police officers, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) commissioner yesterday admitted that former North South University teacher Abul Hasnat R Karim and Tahmid Hasib Khan, two hostages rescued from Holey Artisan Bakery, were in the custody of law enforcers for interrogation. The police chief, however, did not disclose where they have been kept. Earlier, DMP spokesman Masudur Rahman and other officers had repeatedly claimed that there were no rescued hostages in police custody. The police had released all of them, they told journalists. However, families of the duo claimed that they had not returned home after the July 1 attack in the citys diplomatic area. But the commissioner set to rest all speculation at a press briefing at the DMP Media Centre in the city yesterday. He, however, evaded a direct question on why Karim and Khan were being interrogated. He only said: The investigators will be able to answer the question. The top cop claimed that there had been a lot of progress in the investigation into the incident. About the mastermind of the Gulshan attack, he said law enforcers were trying to find out who had supported and extended patronage to the attackers, as it was not possible for only five to six militants to carry out such a deadly attack. He said all the attackers were Bangladeshis and they were recruited and trained in the country. The alleged failure and negligence on the part of law enforcers in preventing the attack was also being investigated, he added. Meanwhile, New York-based rights body Human Rights Watch yesterday said the authorities in Bangladesh should ensure due rights to two detainees who had been held hostage by armed gunmen during the July 1 siege on the Holey Artisan Bakery Caf in Gulshan of the capital. Bangladeshi authorities should guarantee all due process rights of two detainees who had been held hostage. The two men, Hasanat Karim and Tahmid Khan, were initially held for questioning by authorities but have neither been charged nor released, the HRW said. All hostages, except for Karim, 47, and Khan, 22, were released on July 3. Their families have had little or no official information about their safety and whereabouts since, it said. Saying that the detainees have not been produced promptly before a judge, HRW Asia Director Brad Adams said the authorities should do things in a rights-respecting manner. Karim and Khan have not had access to a lawyer, and the police continue to deny holding them although they are clearly still being held by the Detective Branch. The authorities need to either charge or release them immediately, he said.