Militants who stormed into a Bangladesh cafe overnight had asked the hostages to recite verses from the Holy Quran and those who failed to do so were tortured.
According to the Daily Star, those who could recite a verse from the Quran were spared, others were tortured, said a rescued hostage of the Gulshan restaurant attack where at least two lawmen were killed.
Hasnat Karim, his wife Sharmin Karim and daughter Safa, 13, and Rayan, 8, went to celebrate Safa’s birthday at the Spanish restaurant in Gulshan’s Road no-79 last night.
The birthday celebration took a dangerously unprecedented turn when gunmen stormed into the restaurant and took about 20 people, including foreigners dining there.
They were finally rescued after a joint drive of the military, paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh, police and elite force Rapid Action Battalion pushed a heavily-manned offensive this morning.
The militant Islamic State (IS) group, which has claimed the attacks, posted photos of what it said were dead foreigners killed in the assault on the cafe. An army spokesman confirmed that militants killed 20 civilians after taking them hostage, with many of the victims, hacked to death.