Survivor recounts fateful night
Dr Satprakash, one of the eyewitnesses of the Holey Artisan Bakery attack, yesterday told a tribunal in Dhaka how he saw innocent people being killed by militants.
Satprakash, director of Prottoy Medical Clinic Ltd in Baridhara, gave his statement before the Anti-Terrorism Special Tribunal of Dhaka and later he was cross-examined by defence lawyers.
Judge (in-charge) Md Monir Kamal of the tribunal recorded the statement for an hour and set July 9 for the next hearing.
Satprakash said he went to Holey Artisan Bakery around 8:30pm on July 1, 2016 to have dinner. Shortly afterwards, some youths opened fire inside the café.
Some of the militants asked him whether he was a Bangladeshi. He said “yes”. They then asked him not to be afraid and to go to another room. He stayed in the other room throughout the night.
Dr Satprakash, an Indian who came to Bangladesh in 2002, said a man was shot dead right in front of him. Moreover, he found a number a bodies inside the restaurant.
The next morning, police came and rescued him and several others. During investigation, he gave a judicial statement before a magistrate.
Earlier, the tribunal recorded statements of 61 prosecution witnesses, including complainant of the case.
During yesterday’s hearing, all the eight accused -- now in jail -- were produced before the tribunal.
Five armed militants stormed the upscale eatery in the diplomatic zone on July 1, 2016, and held the diners hostage before brutally killing 20 of them -- three Bangladeshis, seven Japanese, nine Italians and one Indian.
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