Assistant chef of Dhaka cafe detained over terror attack

As the investigation agencies probed the deadly Dhaka attack, an assistant chef at the Holey Artisan Bakery has been detained and was being treated at a local hospital, media reports said on Tuesday.

Jakir Hossain Shaon, covered in blood, was picked up from the area behind the cafe on Friday-Saturday night, reports bdnews24.com.

His mother Masuda Begum later found him at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) on Monday afternoon after searching for him for two days.

"I did not know whether my son was alive or not. But now, I have no idea whether he is going to live or not as police has mercilessly beaten him. His face is unrecognisable and his hands and legs are swollen," said Masuda.

She alleged that Shaon had been tortured in police custody.

"Why did they do this to my innocent son? There isn't a single area on his body where they didn't hit him," added Masuda.

Sub-Inspector Bachchu Mia, of the Police Outpost at Dhaka Medical College, declined comment on the Shaon issue, but another officer of the outpost, asking that he not be named, said a handcuffed Shaon was being treated at the hospital's casualty ward.

The DMCH registrar also confirmed that Shaon was admitted to the hospital around Sunday midnight.

Masuda said her son was supposed to return home in Narayanganj's Siddhirganj on Sunday. They last spoke over the phone around 7 p.m. on the day of the attack, when he informed her that he had received the Eid allowance. But he never came home.

Officer-in-charge (Investigation) of Gulshan police station Salauddin told the Dhaka Tribune that they were unaware of his admission to the hospital.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia said one of the suspected cafe attackers was being treated at DMCH, reported bdnews24.com.

Inspector General of Police AKM Shahidul Hoque earlier on Monday said two men have been detained for their "suspected link with the militant attack" but he did not disclose their identities.

Shaon had been working at Holey Artisan Bakery for nearly one year.

Shishir Bairagi, who was in the cafe when the terror attack took place but managed to escape, told bdnews24.com that he had no idea how the chef's assistant, Shaon, escaped after the terrorists laid siege to the cafe.

"I was hiding in a bathroom with several others. At one point in the night, the terrorists told us that they would not kill the Bangladeshis and asked us to come out of the bathroom," said Bairagi.

"But four or five of us broke the bathroom wall and fled through the back," added Bairagi.

Islamist gunmen killed 20 hostages, mainly foreigners, and two policemen during the bloody siege at the Holey Artisan Bakery on July 1. Six gunmen were shot dead and one was captured by security forces.

--IANS

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