Dhaka’s date with terror: Indian girl among 20 killed in café attack

In a horrific 26/11 attack on an upscale restaurant in Dhaka, 20 foreigners were killed, including a 19-year-old Indian woman, putting the spotlight on the danger of rising radicalism in Bangladesh and the need for the world to double efforts to combat the scourge of terrorism.

The attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery in the diplomatic quarter of the capital Dhaka on July 1 began a 12-hour siege, which ended with over 100 Bangladeshi commandos storming the place to rescue hostages.

The attack was reminiscent of the 26/11 terror attack in Mumbai on a luxury hotel and other venues in India’s cosmopolitan state in 2008, in which Pakistani terrorists took Indians hostage and slaughtered 166 people.

Providing an update on the carnage that has shocked the nation and the region, Brig General Nayeem Ashfaque Chowdhury said on July 2 that that six militants and two police officers were also killed, and 13 people were rescued.

Tarishi Jain, “an Indian girl who was taken hostage in the terror attack in Dhaka” was among those killed, said External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said in a series of tweets. She was studying at the UC Berkeley in the US, and was on a vacation in Dhaka, say sources in India’s foreign office. Her father has been running a garment business in Bangladesh for the last 15-20 years, sources said. The India government is assisting family members of the slain girl, who are travelling to Bangladesh. Informed sources said that one Indian doctor and his wife were among the hostages but were released as they spoke Bengali.

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