Where were Hasnat and Tahmid all these days?

If the police claim is considered to be true, then Hasnat and Tahmid were released much earlier from police custody. But the family members’ claim that no relatives had seen the duo since July 3 makes their whereabouts a mystery. Hasnat and Tahmid were among the 34 lucky people who survived the terror attack at an upscale restaurant in Gulshan diplomatic zone where at least 20 people, mostly foreigners, were killed on July 1. Two police officials were also killed by the attackers. Hasnat and Tahmid were rescued in Operation Thunderbolt and taken in as witnesses together with 25 other people the next morning. They were mentioned, along with 32 others rescued from the restaurant, in the case filed in connection with the attack, as survivors. Hasnat is a former teacher of North South University. Tahmid, a Canadian residence permit holder, is currently enrolled as a student at the University of Toronto. They were taken into custody after the attackers released them along with Hasnat’s family members on July 2 morning. They were later taken to the DB office for interrogation, apparently due to their dubious role during the hostage crisis. DMP Deputy Commissioner Masudur Rahman on July 8 told the Dhaka Tribune that the police had released “all the rescued hostages after questioning them about the incident.” He claimed that Tahmid and Hasnat had been released on that night, but their family said that they were yet to return home by then. A confusing state arose soon after the authorities started to give conflicting statements on their detention from July 8. Although the police claimed they arrested them Wednesday night in connection with the terror attack, the questions on where the two had been for over a month remain unanswered. Family members claimed that they had not been able to communicate with them since the day of their detention. The police said Tahmid had been arrested from Bashundhara residential area and Hasnat from in front of Aarong in Gulshan on Wednesday night.End of contradictionsMany claimed that the police had been playing hide and seek over the issue as they neither strongly denied nor confirmed that the duo was in their custody. Although the DMP deputy commissioner claimed they had been released, he failed to ascertain the exact time they were let go. On July 16, DMP Commissioner Asaduzzaman Miah told reporters that they had been interrogating the duo in connection with the July 1 attack, but refused to give details. From the very beginning of their sudden disappearance, their families and several international human rights groups have been campaigning for their release if there were no charges against them. On July 26, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said that Hasnat had been facing interrogation. “No information about him is yet confirmed. Everything will be disclosed after the investigation ends,” he told reporters. Finally, on August 1, Inspector General of Police AKM Shahidul Hoque said Hasnat was still a person of interest in the case, but denied keeping him in police custody. “But we have knowledge about his [Hasnat] location. If needed, we can bring him under custody any time,” the police chief said. Within two days of this statement, Hasnat and Tahmid were arrested under section 54 on suspicion and later a Dhaka court placed them on eight-day remand.