Holey Artisan Bakery Attack

It has been almost 9 years since the hostage at Holey Artisan Bakery in Gulshan. I still wonder how I ended up being present there that evening. I was wrapping up work at the office after iftar, preparing to go home, when news came that something was happening in Gulshan, though no one knew for sure what it was.

Driven by the desire to get photos on the front page, I headed from Tejgaon to Gulshan with my colleague Suman Bhai. Suman Bhai dropped me off on his motorbike and left. I saw police running around frantically; Sudeepto Salam, a photojournalist, asked me, “Who told you to come here?” I saw a policeman running with a pistol raised in his hand. I took my camera out of my tote bag and followed him. He looked at me and said, “You stay back.” I usually wear sneakers when going out to take photos. That day, thinking I would take photos for Jum’atul-Wida prayers, I had worn sandals so I could quickly take pictures at Baitul Mukarram and leave. As I tried to run, I felt like I couldn’t run properly because of the sandals, so I paused for a moment.

SILVER LINING OUT OF A DARK CLOUD

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Within seconds, a deafening explosion. In the darkness, the sound seemed to silence me completely. For a moment, I couldn’t comprehend what to do. I saw a man lying in front of my eyes. Two policemen tried to pull me forward. I tried to take a picture of the fallen policeman; looking through the viewfinder, I saw his shirt soaked red with blood. I kept trying to focus the lens, but couldn’t.

By then, the BGB and RAB had arrived. I stood in a corner, trying to recall what had just happened moments ago. My colleague Suman Bhai somehow found water for me. I called the office and informed them we’d need a second edition that day.

By then, the whole world knew about the hostage situation at Holey Artisan Bakery. The entire area was overflowing with media; there was no space to stand. We, a few photojournalists, stood hour after hour on top of a wall. From there, we covered the entire incident.

Photo Description:

SILVER LINING OUT OF A DARK CLOUD

Rescue personnel carry a new mother on a stretcher while the father walks with the newborn in his arms in Gulshan. They were trapped in a clinic right beside the Holey Artisan Bakery.

In addition to the 20 hostages — nine Italian, seven Japanese, two Bangladeshis, one Indian and one Bangladesh-born US citizen — the attackers bombed and killed two police officers who tried to end the siege soon after it began around 8:40 pm on July 1, 2016.

The 11-hour hostage situation ended when army commandos stormed the café in the high-security diplomatic zone around 8:00 am on July 2, 2016. In the operation, codenamed Thunderbolt, five militants and a café chef were killed.

Parvez Ahmad on July 1, 2025 Daily Life News Photojournalism Politics