The Holey Artisan Bakery, where 20 people were killed by militants last July ’16, has reopened but at a new location in Dhaka’s Gulshan.
The upscale eatery that once operated on 2000 sq ft area will now be housed inside a 500 sq ft space on the first floor of “Rangs Arcade” building at the Gulshan Avenue (Gulshan-1 to Gulshan-2 main connecting road).
The newly constructed zone has seat plans for 20 people. The cafe could earlier seat 50 customers at a time.
Six months into the gruesome attack, the bakery was reopened on Tuesday 10/1, one of those managing the venture said.
On Jul 1 last year, gunmen barged into the cafe on road 79 at Gulshan-2 and killed 20 people, 17 of whom were foreigners (mostly Italian). Army and Police commandos neutralised the militants next morning.
The terrorist attack and the commando action damaged much of the structure including boundary walls and goods kept inside. In addition, subsequent investigations had proved that the place was “abusive” and the building was not licensed as a commercial space or restaurant (it was a disused nursing house).
Recently, the management announced they would reopen the cafe at a new location on their Facebook page.
Workers were seen busy decorating the new place on Tuesday afternoon.
The manager said they had plans to open branches at Dhanmondi and Motijheel as well. “We are trying to turn around after a setback. But the loss to the country is much bigger,” he said.
Source: BD News24
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