Holy Artisan Case Still Awaits Final Verdict after 10 Years

The date was July 1, 2016, a Friday. As evening fell, Road 79 in Dhaka’s Gulshan neighborhood came to a standstill. The Holy Artisan Bakery in the diplomatic zone turned into a scene of horror. Silence abruptly descended on the area as a bloody chapter unfolded. Militants gunned down 20 people, both Bangladeshis and foreigners. The entire country watched Gulshan in shock. Even a decade later, memories of that terrifying night remain vivid and deeply unsettling.

Ten years have passed since the Holy Artisan massacre. The case has already gone through two stages of the judicial process. On Nov. 27, 2019, Dhaka’s Anti-Terrorism Special Tribunal delivered its verdict, sentencing seven of the eight defendants to death while acquitting one.

The case later moved to the High Court, which delivered a new ruling on Oct. 30, 2023. The court commuted the death sentences of the seven convicted militants to life imprisonment until death. However, the legal battle has not ended. The defense has appealed the ruling, leaving the final resolution of the case pending.

The overnight hostage crisis at Holy Artisan ended the following morning when the Bangladesh Army launched Operation Thunderbolt. The operation killed five attackers and rescued 13 hostages alive.

Among those killed in the attack were nine Italian nationals, seven Japanese nationals, one Indian national, and three Bangladeshis. Two police officers also lost their lives during efforts to rescue the hostages. The brutal attack left the entire nation stunned.

From death sentences to life imprisonment

Following the attack that drew international attention, police filed a case under the Anti-Terrorism Act with Gulshan Police Station. After completing the investigation, authorities indicted eight defendants on Nov. 26, 2018.

Following a year-long trial, the tribunal announced its verdict on Nov. 27, 2019. As required by law after a death sentence, the trial court sent the case records to the High Court on Dec. 5, 2019, for confirmation of the death sentences and for hearings on the defendants’ jail appeals seeking acquittal. The records included the first information report, seizure lists, charge sheet, witness testimonies, and the trial court’s verdict, all of which were submitted to the High Court’s Death Reference Branch.

The High Court began hearing the death reference, appeals, and jail appeals in early 2023 and concluded proceedings on Oct. 11 of that year. On Oct. 30, the court delivered its verdict, replacing the death sentences of the seven convicted militants with life imprisonment until death.

Those convicted are Jahangir Hossain alias Rajib Gandhi, Aslam Hossain alias Rash, Hadisur Rahman, Rakibul Hasan Regan, Abdus Sabur Khan, Shariful Islam alias Khaled, and Mamunur Rashid Ripon.

Court says five slain attackers also merited death sentences

The verdict stated that five militants killed during the commando operation—Rohan Ibn Imtiaz, Mir Sameh Mubasher, Nibras Islam, Shafiqul Islam alias Ujjal, and Khairul Islam alias Payel, directly participated in the attack.

According to the court, prosecution evidence proved beyond reasonable doubt that the five were responsible for killing 20 people, making them guilty under Section 6(1)(a)(a) of the Anti-Terrorism Act.

The verdict further noted that all five died at the scene after the attack. Had any of them survived, the court said, they could have been convicted under the same provision and sentenced to death under Section 6(2)(a) of the law.

A reporter’s memory of the ‘night of terror’

At the time, I was a second-year university student. Because I was studying mass communication, I already had a strong interest in following the news. At around 9 p.m. that night, television news tickers reported that militants had attacked a restaurant in Gulshan. Many Bangladeshis and foreigners were trapped inside, and gunfire could be heard.

Using a Walton smartphone, I searched online for more information about the incident. At that point, however, almost no details about the attack were available online.

Outside a shop near Akbar Mosque in Mirpur-1’s C Block, a young man named Rakib was speaking to his sister on the phone. Curious, I asked whether someone close to him was trapped inside Holy Artisan. He replied that his elder sister lived in a building next to the restaurant.

His sister later described the horrifying night.

“My driver told me, ‘Apu, don’t go outside now. There is gunfire below.’ Then I saw the glass window in my drawing room crack. After that, I kept hearing continuous gunfire. My daughter started crying, and then all of us began crying. It was an extremely frightening situation,” she said.

As the attack continued, attention shifted from Bangladesh to the international stage. Questions circulated throughout the night: How many people had been taken hostage? How many had been killed?

Then reports emerged that two police officers had been killed by militant gunfire, intensifying fears. It suggested that the attackers were numerous and heavily armed.

At around 10 p.m., Rubana Huq, wife of then Dhaka North City Corporation Mayor Annisul Huq, wrote on Twitter: “Police is surrounding the area, gunfire still on.”

Commando operation the following morning

After security forces cordoned off the area around Holy Artisan Bakery throughout the night, an army commando unit made final preparations for an assault at 7:30 am on July 2.

The commandos launched the operation at 7:45 am Armed personnel entered the restaurant, and gunfire was heard during the assault.

At approximately 8:15 am, six people, including women and children, emerged from the bakery in the first phase of the rescue. By 8:55 am, security forces had taken control of the building. Specialist teams then began searching for explosives inside the premises, while investigators started collecting evidence shortly afterward.

The operation concluded at 9:15 am, bringing an end to nearly 12 hours of a bloody hostage crisis.

At 10 am, authorities announced that 13 people, including four foreigners, had been rescued alive. Police also reported finding the bodies of five unidentified individuals inside the bakery.