FAMILIES SAY 2 DHAKA ATTACK HOSTAGES HAVE NOT COME HOME

DHAKA: Confusion surrounds the fate of two former hostages from the grisly attack on a restaurant in Bangladesh’s capital, with their families saying they haven’t returned home and authorities announcing they are not in custody.

The two men are considered vital for the investigation into the July 1 attack on Holey Artisan Bakery in the Gulshan diplomatic zone that left 20 hostages, mostly foreigners, dead.

The attack was claimed by the Islamic State but authorities have insisted it was carried out by homegrown militants.

The families of Hasnat Karim, a British citizen, and Tahmid Hasib Khan, a student at the University of Toronto, have sought information on their whereabouts and rights group Amnesty International has urged the government to clarify.

Police said they had earlier questioned Karim and Khan but they were no longer in custody.

Amnesty said Karim’s family was taken into custody for questioning on July 2, and all, except Karim, were released on July 3.

“Hasnat Karim’s family must immediately be told whether the Bangladeshi authorities are still holding him in custody, and if so allow him contact with the outside world. They have already suffered a traumatic episode, and his enforced disappearance prolongs their ordeal,” said Champa Patel, Amnesty International’s South Asia director.

Authorities have a poor track record on human rights in custody, with torture and other illtreatment to obtain ‘confessions’ and the denial of medical treatment, Patel said.