#Trending: Netizens tussle over implications of Tahmid rooftop pics

There has been a blizzard of posts on social media platforms – both condemning and supporting Tahmid Hasib Khan – after new photos surfaced showing him and fellow suspect Hasnat Reza Karim standing on top of Holey Artisan Bakery with one of the terrorists. Many Facebook users claimed they used to believe in the innocence of Tahmid, but the latest photos have disillusioned them. A Facebook page called “Free Tahmid” - which has long been campaigning for the release of the University of Toronto student who survived the Dhaka terror attack – saw a barrage of criticism against him. A lot of the users went as far as issuing threats against the administrators of the page. The page later posted this: “The admins of this page are receiving direct threats to their security. We take all such threats exceptionally seriously and we WILL inform the relevant police authorities in our countries.”“Your threats ARE being monitored and these kind of threats are taken very, very seriously where we live. Please cease and desist,” admins of Free Tahmid wrote. But many criticised the page for still supporting Tahmid. The page, however, clarified its stance regarding the news reports on Tahmid, pointing to previous international news reports that quoted witnesses vouching for Tahmid. “You may have come across some photos of Tahmid today. READ THE TRUTH BELOW. READ THE TESTIMONY OF THE HOSTAGES. ONLY THEY CAN VERIFY WHAT HAPPENED THAT NIGHT.”But Facebook users also raised doubts about the identities of the witnesses mentioned in those reports. “Free Tahmid I was reading your posts and comments.......you repeatedly mentioned that other hostages testified that Tahmid was force to carry the unloaded gun.....who are these witnesses? I really want to believe that such an educated young man with so such to offer to the world did not carried out this brutal act,” wrote Nil ChoudhurySome users also pointed out that a previous theory about one of the victims – Faraaz Ayaaz Hossain – being a militant was later also debunked. “Netizens – who blamed Faraaz to be a terrorist, also had no official quotes to support such assertions. That report looked like it was some math problem – solved with logic but not evidence. Cops later dismissed the entire debate,” wrote Sumaiya Zaman.There were also some who said they still stood by their belief that Tahmid was innocent. “This is a bloody free country and people who love and know Tahmid have every right to rally for him. `Innocent till proven guilty'!” Lisa H Huda wrote.