Months after Dhaka cafe siege, charity buries attackers as none claim bodies

Dhaka: The five militants and another suspected attacker killed in a raid on a cafe in Dhaka have been buried over two months after the terror attack on the eatery. The charitable organisation Anjuman Mufidul Islam took charge of the bodies from the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) and buried them at Jurain Graveyard on Thursday, officials said, bdnews24.com reported. Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia confirmed the bodies were handed over to the charitable organisation as ‘unclaimed’ ones. [caption id=“attachment_2872022” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Police outside the bakery where the attack happened. Reuters[/caption] “No one from among their relatives had contacted us to claim the bodies,” he told bdnews24.com. Inter Services Public Relations Directorate (ISPR) Director Rashidul Hasan said the coffins carrying the bodies were handed over to the police at CMH mortuary around 12 p.m. on Thursday. Anjuman representatives and DMP counterterrorism unit Inspector Humayun Kabir, who is investigating the Gulshan attack case, were also present. When contacted for confirmation, Anjuman Executive Director Ilias Ahmed evaded any clear reply to questions posed to him. “Police give us bodies of unidentified persons and we bury them. They did so today too. We don’t know whether they are the bodies from Holey Artisan,” he said. Another Anjuman official, requesting anonymity, said: “Our officials went to CMH with six carriers and two pick-up trucks. The bodies were buried in the afternoon following religious rules.” The father of one of the dead militants told bdnews24.com that police had not told him anything about the matter. “But I’ve heard from an Anjuman official that six bodies were buried in Jurain,” he said. The militants killed 20 hostages, including 17 foreigners, in the attack on Holey Artisan Bakery and O’ Kitchen at Dhaka’s diplomatic district Gulshan on 1 July. Two police officers also died in the attack. Security forces stormed the eatery early the next day, killing six suspected attackers and freeing 13 hostages. Five of the attackers were identified as militants of the banned outfit Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh.