Bangladesh police deny missing U of T student is still in custody

In this Saturday, July 2, 2016 file photo, Bangladeshi soldiers ride armored vehicles as they prepare to raid a restaurant where armed gunmen took hostages in Dhaka, Bangladesh. (AP Photo/File)

NEW DELHI -- Police in Bangladesh denied Saturday that they're still holding a British man and a University of Toronto student who have been missing since being rescued during this month's bloody attack on a restaurant by radical Islamists, saying they've questioned and released the men.

Hasnat Karim, the British national, and Tahmid Hasib Khan, the student, have not been heard from since being questioned following the July 1 attack, according to their families and New York-based Human Rights Watch, which says the authorities are still holding the men.

But Masudur Rahman, a Dhaka police spokesman, said Saturday that neither man was still being held by police. "They are not in our custody. We don't know anything," Rahman told The Associated Press.

He would not confirm reports that they were still in the custody of any other agency as part of the investigation into the attack.

Five armed gunmen attacked the Holey Artisan Bakery restaurant on the night of July 1, killing 20 people and holding others inside hostage. Security forces stormed the restaurant on July 2, killing the gunmen and rescuing the remaining 13 hostages. Those killed were nine Italians, seven Japanese, three Bangladeshis and one Indian.

Human Rights Watch said all of the hostages except for Karim, 47, and Khan, 22, were released by the authorities on July 3.

Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said Saturday that "Karim and Khan have not had access to a lawyer, and the police continue to deny holding them although they are clearly still being held by the Detective Branch. The authorities need to either charge or release them immediately."

Earlier in the week, Amnesty International expressed its concern over Khan's safety and urged the government to disclose his whereabouts.

The Islamic State group claimed the responsibility for the attack. The claim was rejected by Bangladesh's government, which said IS has no presence in the country and instead blamed the local radical group Jumatul Mujahedeen Bangladesh.