Hasnat denies involvement in Gulshan attack

They are now waiting for the forensic report on Hasnat's mobile phone and hope that they would receive the report by this week, said a high official of police's Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crimes (CTTC) yesterday. Terrorists attacked Gulshan's Holey Artisan Bakery and O Kitchen Restaurant on July 1 and brutally murdered 22 people, 17 of whom were foreign nationals and two were policemen. They held the diners and waiting staff of the restaurant hostage for nearly 11 hours before a joint commando force stormed the place, ending the siege and killing all the attackers. Police sources said within half an hour of the attack, a mobile application named Wickr Me, a private secure message service, was installed in Hasnat's phone. The app was reportedly used by the attackers to give updates to their superiors and send the photos of their kills. The CTTC official, who requested not to be named, told the Dhaka Tribune that forensic experts were looking to dig out information in this regard from the phone's database. He further said police were now scrutinising the witness accounts of the attack to understand Hasnat's activity that night. “We are also analysing the photos of Hasnat during the hostage situation that were published by the media.” At least 40 witnesses have given their statements about what they experienced during the siege, sources said. Earlier, Detective Branch Joint Commissioner Abdul Baten said Hasnat had been shown arrested in the case after getting “primary evidence” against him, but did not disclose any further details. Another law enforcement official, who also sought anonymity, said they were also looking into Hasnat's past activities. “Since we found evidence of his involvement in the attack, we suspect he may have connections with Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).” The former North South University teacher was arrested along with another survivor, University of Toronto student Tahmid Hasib Khan, on August 3 night under Section 54, according to police. Regarding Tahmid's involvement in the attack, the CTTC official said they were still investigating it. He said though Tahmid claimed that he had held a gun during the siege after being threatened by the terrorists, it was necessary to find out what really happened.