An anti-terrorism tribunal in Dhaka has issued arrest warrants against two fugitives after accepting the chargesheet in the Gulshan café attack case.
Anti-terrorism special tribunal Judge Mujibur Rahman passed the order on Wednesday, reports bdnews24.com.
The tribunal also ordered police to submit reports on the development of fugitives’ arrests by Aug 16. The two fugitives are Shahidul Islam Khaled and Mamunur Rashid Ripon.
Former North South University teacher Hasnat Rezaul Karim has been exonerated from the case as the police found no evidence of his involvement. He has been in jail for about two years.
After identifying 21 suspects, police had charged eight people for their links to the attack on the cafe in 2016.
The six suspects arrested are Jahangir Alam alias Rajib Gandhi, Rakibul Hasan Regan, Rashedul Islam alias Rash, Sohel Mahfuz, Mizanur Rahman alias Baro Mizan and Hadisur Rahman Sagar.
The remaining 13 other suspects died in law-enforcement agencies’ operations later.
Of the six arrested, all except Jahangir Alam were produced before the court on Wednesday. The court asked the authorities to explain why Alam was not presented.
British-Bangladeshi Hasnat and his family, who went to the restaurant that day, were among the several other diners released by the attackers before the army raided the place.
Hasnat, though apparently a hostage during the attack, had been kept under close watch since the day.
Police detained him in August the same year under Section 54 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which allows making arrest without a warrant.
Twenty diners, including 17 foreigners, and two police officers were killed in the attack, for which the law enforcers blamed the revived faction of home-grown militant group Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh or Neo-JMB.