Holey Artisan Cafe terror attack: Seven accused sentenced to death, one acquitted

The Anti-Terrorism Special Tribunal, Dhaka delivered the verdict on the terror attack at Holey Artisan Cafe today. Of the eight accused, seven were sentenced to death and one accused in custody was acquitted.

The Anti-Terrorism Special Tribunal judge Md. Majibur Rahman ordered the seven to be hanged till death and even charged a fine of 50,000 Bangladeshi Takas to each of them.

The verdict was delivered amidst tight security with Bangladesh’s elite counter-terrorism force - Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) being on standby and the entire court premises being turned into a fortress by the Dhaka Metropolitan Police.

The seven sentenced to death are - Jahangir Hossain, Aslam Hossain Rash, Hadisur Rahman, Rakibul Hasan Regan, Md Abdus Sabur Khan, Shariful Islam Khaled and Mamunur Rashid Ripon.

One accused - Mizanur Rahman was acquitted by the court after charges against him could not be proven.

Eight accused in custody were chargesheeted last year and charges were framed against them too.

The attacks carried out by Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) terrorists on July 1, 2016 killed 22 persons including 17 foreigners at Gulshan’s Holey Artisan Cafe.

The armed terrorists killed nine Italians, seven Japanese nationals, one Indian national, two Bangladeshis and one Bangladesh-origin US national.