Family seeks NY firm’s service to determine Hasnat’s role

They contacted with Guardian Consulting LLC, an intelligence-investigations-security company that provides client advisory services, two weeks back, Hasnat’s family says. The family gave three videos and eight photographs to the firm to determine Hasnat’s role – whether he was a party to the terrorist attack or a victim/hostage. Guardian’s forensic image analysis report of the terror attack on Holey Artisan Bakery on July 1, sent on August 21, suggests Hasnat as a kidnap victim rather than a participant of the attack. By analysing the photos and the videos, Guardian said Hasnat was a “passive unarmed individual who was apparently ordered at gunpoint by alleged terrorists to move about the bakery. His actions, demeanour and dress are consistent with that of a kidnap victim rather than a modern terrorist.” The review report said the attack “operatives were from the Core and Franchise categories, having completed varying degrees of training in the use of firearms and defensive strategies that allowed them to slaughter victims and hold the building for a prolonged period of time. The profile of Core and Franchise terrorists is that they are perversely proud of their work and look to claim credit. Karim has done no such thing and therefore does not fit the generally accepted profile of a terrorist.” The bakery attackers were well-armed, well-prepared and well-trained, but no evidence found Hasnat as fit to such profile, it reads. “News accounts present no evidence that Karim fits the profile of radicalisation. He is a professional who trained abroad and returned to Bangladesh working as a professor and an engineer. People his age do not suddenly emerge as terrorists. If he were involved in an extremist movement, prior evidence would likely have been discovered. Finally, it is nearly unheard of for a terrorist to use his own wife and children as a shield in an attack,” the report said. With its review, the report claimed Hasnat was dressed in a style for celebratory birthday meal with his wife and children rather than to take part in a terrorist attack. He wore a golf shirt, slacks and soft, thin soled shoes. The known terrorists shown in the videos are in darker coloured clothing (making them more difficult targets for law enforcement) and were shod in thick-soled shoes more appropriate for running, climbing and other combat related activities than the soft shoes worn by Karim. “In each of the photographs he [Hasnat] appears to be subservient or neutral. Those stances are not consistent with a Core or Franchise terrorist. The lack of a pistol, suicide vest or other “low-tech” weapon are contrary to the profile of Aspirant,” it said. Guardian in its review report said none of the images fits Hasnat as a threat. “No weapons are visible in his hands or on his person. His casual clothes are closely tailored, ruling out the possibility that he was equipped with a suicide vest or even tactical body armour,” it said. “Karim presents as a victim in this situation. He is never seen with a weapon. He is never shown giving orders. He is positioned in harms way and apparently under duress. He does not fit the profile of a Core or Franchise operative. The lack of a weapon and/or suicide vest is contrary to the profile of an Aspirant operative,” it said as concluding remarks. While asked, Hasnat’s wife Sharmina Parveen told the Dhaka Tribune that they had collected the video footage’s from YouTube and the images from available sources. “My sister-in-laws, residing in the United States, collected the pictures and sent me those for verification. I verified the pictures that these are related to the cafe incident. With my approval, they sent the images to the consulting firm for a review,” she said. The family sent the images to Guardian two weeks back. The firm prepared the report on August 15 and sent it back to the family on August 21. Responding to a query, she said: “We have submitted a copy of the report to the lawyer earlier, but the lawyer failed to submit the report to the court. We are expecting to submit the report to the court, through our lawyer, today [Wednesday] as the hearing on Hasnat’s bail petition is scheduled for today.” She said: “As the police have arrested him based on body language, we think the Guardian body language report can help my husband prove innocent.” Terrorists killed 22 people, mostly foreigners, and two police officers when they attacked the restaurant at the heart of Dhaka’s diplomatic zone. The 11-hour standoff ended with a commando operation the next morning when all the five attackers were killed. Hasnat, a former North South University teacher holding a UK citizenship, was formally shown arrested on August 3.