'It was a war-like situation'

The owner of the Holey Artisan Bakery yesterday appeared before a tribunal in Dhaka and narrated what he knew about the gruesome militant attack inside the upscale eatery on the night of July 1 in 2016.

His wife and two more prosecution witnesses also gave their statements before the tribunal.

Judge Majibur Rahman of Anti-Terrorism Special Tribunal recorded their statements. Later, defence counsel for the accused cross-examined the witnesses.

Sadat Mehdi, owner of the restaurant, told the tribunal that around 8:30pm on July 1 one of his managers called to tell him that gunshots were exchanged inside the restaurant. Mehdi went to Holey Artisan and found a police van there.

“Two powerful bombs exploded inside Holey that seemed a war-zone and at one stage two injured policemen were taken away. Moreover, around 10:30pm different law enforcement agencies started planning how they would rescue the hostages safely. The next morning an operation was carried out to rescue the hostages and I came to know that 24 people were killed,” Sadat said in his statement.

In a choked voice, Sadat said five of his close friends, who were regular guests, were killed in the attack. Later, defence for all the accused cross-examined him.

Three more witnesses -- Sadat's wife Samira Ahmed; Abdul Hakim, a manager of Lake View Clinic cafeteria; and Akash Khan, a chef at Holey Artisan -- gave their statements before the tribunal.

The tribunal then fixed January 29 for the next hearing of the case.

During yesterday's hearing, six of the accused, now in jail custody, were produced before the tribunal. Two other accused had fled the scene during the incident.

On July 1, 2016, armed militants stormed the upscale eatery in Gulshan's diplomatic zone and killed 20 hostages, most of them foreign nationals.