Today is the third anniversary of the militant attack on Holey Artisan; in that attack, 20 persons, including locals and foreigners and two police officers were killed. In that incident, people in the restaurant were kept hostage for a full night by militants and in the early morning the next day, the hostage crisis was resolved through a commando operation called Operation Thunderbolt.

All five militants were killed and later, Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit (CTTC), submitted charge-sheet to court against 8 living militants.

The charge sheet was submitted on Jul 23, 2018, with the court accepting it on Aug 8, 2018. The trial began on Nov 26 and currently, it’s underway at the special tribunal of Judge Md Mujibur Rahman.

The Holey Artisan charge-sheet mentioned 211 witnesses; so far, the statements of 60 persons were taken and on Jun 25 last, statements of another 5 persons were recorded. The next date is Jul 2. The judge also ordered a warrant of no-bail for the witnesses.

Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, the public prosecutor of the Dhaka Anti-Terrorism Special Tribunal, said: “the trial of this case is comparatively faster; sixty statements have been taken while more than 150 remains; we hope to complete the trial within a short time.”

“In the Holey Artisan attack, 22 persons were killed; we hope the court will give the highest penalty.”

In the Holey Artisan commando raid, five militants were killed; later during several others drives, 8 other radicals were killed.