Family and friends are calling on the Bangladeshi authorities to release Tahmid Hasib Khan, 22, who has been detained for questioning by authorities in Dhaka after a deadly attack on a café on the weekend. The University of Toronto student was held hostage and survived the attack.

Family and friends are calling on the Bangladeshi authorities to release Tahmid Hasib Khan, 22, who has been detained for questioning by authorities in Dhaka after a deadly attack on a café on the weekend. The University of Toronto student was held hostage and survived the attack.
Photo Credit: Tahmid Hasib Khan/Facebook

Family and friends call for release of Dhaka attack survivor

Family and friends of a University of Toronto student who survived a brutal terrorist attack in an upscale café in Dhaka last week are calling on authorities in Bangladesh to release him.

Tahmid Hasib Khan, 22, was detained for questioning on Saturday, immediately after authorities stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery and rescued him and 12 others.

His brother Talha Rahim Khan, who lives in Toronto, told CBC News Tahmid is a permanent resident of Canada. He came to Canada with his parents in 2004, stayed about a year and returned in 2012 to go to the University of Toronto. He said his brother has been diagnosed with epilepsy.

Khan said his brother was at the café to meet two of his friends when armed attackers stormed the restaurant, holding hostages for hours. At least 22 people, including 18 foreigners who were specifically targeted by the assailants, were killed in the attack, which was claimed by ISIS.

 Bangladeshi military commandos walk away from an upscale restaurant after a bloody siege ended in Dhaka on July 2, 2016.
Bangladeshi military commandos walk away from an upscale restaurant after a bloody siege ended in Dhaka on July 2, 2016. © STR/AFP/Getty Images

The attackers were described as young, educated men from affluent families.

“We are hoping and praying for the best. It’s very hard for us emotionally. We are worried but we have faith in due process,” he said.

Khan’s supporters have created a Facebook page “Free Tahmid” to rally to his support.

“Why the police is (sic) still not releasing him is a big surprise for the family and for all who knew Tahmid,” said a recent post on the page. “His family has gone to all quarters to get information. But the police is keeping quiet.

“You won’t find a sweeter kid and you won’t find a more decent family. Our prayers are with the family and Tahmid and hope this ordeal would soon come to an end and he will return to his family.”

Amarnath Amarasingam, a University of Waterloo researcher who has been studying Canadians who join jihadi groups, told Toronto’s City News there is nothing about Khan that raises any alarms.

“I think he’s just been picked up because the Bangladeshi government heard these rumours of a Canadian being involved with ISIS in Bangladesh,” Amarasingam told City News. “The government is spooked by the possible presence of foreigners plotting terror attacks in that country. From what I can tell [Khan] was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Categories: International, Politics
Tags: , ,

Do you want to report an error or a typo? Click here!

For reasons beyond our control, and for an undetermined period of time, our comment section is now closed. However, our social networks remain open to your contributions.