Investigators have got some crucial information in connection with the murder of secularist writer Avijit Roy from the two alleged militants arrested recently in the city.
Sources said that the duo – Kamal alias Shahin and Shah Alam alias Salauddin – had been involved in the gruesome murder that took place on February 26 last year. Police say they are members of banned militant outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team.
A senior police officer, seeking anonymity, confirmed the matter to the Dhaka Tribune, but refused to elaborate further.
The newly-formed Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CT) unit and the DB police arrested the two militants from Badda on Friday. They were placed on six-day remand on Monday.
Former Buet teacher Avijit Roy, also founder of Mukto-Mona blog, was hacked to death by assailants near TSC when he and his wife Rafida Ahmed Bonya were returning from the book fair. Bonna sustained severe injuries in the attack.
Ansarullah has ties with HujiB
Bombs recovered from the alleged den of Ansarullah in Mohammadpur are similar to those found in Narayanganj on October 25 last year, investigators said.
They think that either some members of banned Islamist group Harkat-ul Jihad al-Islami (HujiB) joined Ansarullah or they trained the Ansarullah members. Both the groups want to establish Islamic rule in the country.
DB Bomb Disposal Unit officials told the Dhaka Tribune that they had found the bombs inside the false ceiling of the flat. Similar arrangement was seen in Narayanganj.
DB Assistant Commissioner Rahmattullah Chowdhury said they had found six grenades which were made of local materials. Moreover, they found bomb-making manuals written in Bangla and Arabic.
“We saw similar preparation of grenades from the HujiB members detained earlier. May be some bomb makers of HujiB have joined Ansarullah,” he added.
At least seven members of HujiB were arrested by the DB police in Narayanganj last year. They had returned to Bangladesh after getting military training from Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba for two years.