‘I love you dada and am crying for you,’ Anger over British man locked up without charge over Isis massacre

Exclusive: In letters seen by The Independent, Hasnat Karim's children write to the Bangladeshi Prime Minister pleading for his release

Hasnat Karim with his two children, who were with him and their mother during an Isis attack in Bangladesh

“Please let daddy come back, I miss him a lot.”

Those are the words written by a 13-year-old girl pleading for the release of her British father, who has been locked up in a Bangladeshi jail without charge after being accused of taking part in a deadly Isis terror attack in which more than 20 people were killed.

Safa Karim has not seen her father, Hasnat, since they were celebrating her thirteenth birthday as a family on 1 July.

As a treat, her parents took Safa and her little brother, Rayan, to the Holey Artisan Bakery café in Dhaka for dinner.

Minutes after they sat down, five Isis militants burst in and massacred 22 people, ordering hostages to recite verses from the Koran and torturing anyone who could not.

People help an injured person after a group of gunmen attacked a restaurant popular with foreigners in Dhaka, Bangladesh (AP)

Relatives say Mr Karim, a British-Bangladeshi national, was forced to act as a human shield by militants who threatened to kill his children.

His family survived the terror attack but Mr Karim has been imprisoned without charge since, accused by Bangladeshi police of colluding with the attackers.

Safa and her brother have now written letters – seen exclusively by The Independent – to the Bangladeshi Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, as relatives continue desperate efforts to have the 47-year-old released.

“I wish to celebrate my birthday with daddy again after he can come back home,” Safa writes.

“Please release daddy, I know he is innocent and he didn’t do anything.

“Please let him return home soon. If he was here, I could talk with him, go shopping, swimming, playing golf and many other things which he took us for.

“Please let daddy come back, I miss him a lot and always wish for him to come back as soon as possible.”

8-year-old Rayan’s letter, written in shaky handwriting, reads: “I am really sad because my father is not home. If he was at home I could play games with him.

Relatives of the Dhaka terrorists attack victims mourn as they go to identify bodies from the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka, Bangladesh (EPA)

“Please come soon. I love you dada and am crying for you.”

Mr Karim’s lawyers have accused Bangladeshi authorities of holding him in “arbitrary detention” without sufficient evidence.

No charges have been brought in a series of court appearances and a judge refused another bail application on Wednesday, leaving the former university professor detained without access to a lawyer or visitation rights for his family.

Rodney Dixon QC, Mr Karim’s lawyer, said his continued detention was a violation of fundamental rights.

“It is completely unacceptable for Mr Karim still to be in jail when the police have not sought any further remand for their investigations, and especially when there is no evidence against him and no charges have been brought,” he added.

“There is no justification at all for his incarceration with no end in sight. He should be released immediately and at least granted bail. He is an innocent man who only wants to clear his name.”

Hasnat Karim leaves after his court appearance in Dhaka on 13 August (AFP/Getty)

Authorities are believed to be treating him as an accomplice to the atrocity, alongside detained University of Toronto student Tahmid Hasib Khan, who also disappeared after being taken for questioning.

Bangladesh’s national police chief, AKM Shahidul Hoque, told reporters that the two men had fallen under suspicion as a result of their “behaviour and actions” during the siege.

But Mr Karim’s wife, Sharmina Parveen, told The Independent she feared her husband would be killed during the 10-hour ordeal.

“I think they chose him because they knew he would not run away if his family were there too,” she said.

“I cannot describe to you in words how it felt. They kept taking him away and then bringing him back and every time they took him I had no idea if we would ever see him again.”

The victims of the attack included nine Italians, seven Japanese, several Bangladeshis and students from America and India.

Police admitted mistakenly shooting the restaurant’s pizza chef dead while storming the building after mistaking him for a militant.

In another raid in Dhaka on Saturday morning, three suspects were killed including the alleged mastermind of the attack.

Tamim Chowdhury, a Bangladeshi-Canadian militant, is believed to be the “emir” of Isis’ local branch – also known by the war name Shaykh Abu Ibrahim al-Hanif.

Isis claimed responsibility for the atrocity on its propaganda channels, publishing photos of the five militants who carried out the attack posing with the Isis flag.

The terrorist group announced its presence in Bangladesh late last year and analysts believe they are recruiting from pre-existing extremist groups who have been carrying out machete attacks since 2013.

But Bangladeshi authorities have persistently denied Isis has a presence in the country, sparking warnings from counter-terror monitors including the Site Intelligence Group, which has urged the Government to “face the truth.”

Isis propaganda has made no mention of Mr Karim, who lived, studied and worked in the UK for nearly 20 years before returning to his country of birth to teach.

He became a professor in the business faculty of Dhaka’s North South University in 2008, where one of the attackers was his student, but has since left to run his father’s engineering business.

His family say he is not a devout Muslim, has never been active in religious or political groups and has no links to militants.

A spokesperson for the Foreign Office told The Independent: “We continue to press the Bangladeshi authorities for consular access in this case. We have repeatedly raised this case for access at a senior level and will continue to do so. We have also been in close contact with the family since we were first made aware of the arrest.”

Bangladesh does not recognise dual nationality and so does not abide by regulations ensuring access for UK diplomats in cases involving British-Bangladeshis.

The letters in full

Safa, 13

Honourable Prime Minister,

I am Safa Karim, daughter of Hasnat Karim. I had my birthday on the 1st of July. We went to the Holey Artisan Bakery to celebrate my birthday on that day. I went along with daddy, my mother and my brother Rayan to have a dinner. But unfortunately I couldn’t have a happy birthday. But I wish to celebrate my birthday with daddy again after he can come back home. Please release daddy, I know he is innocent and he didn’t do anything. Please let him return home soon. If he was here, I could talk with him, go shopping, swimming, playing golf and many other things which he took us for. Please let daddy come back, I miss him a lot and always wish for him to come back as soon as possible.

Rayan, 8

I am Rayan Karim. I am really sad because my father is not home. If he was at home I could play games with him. Please come soon. I love you dada and am crying for you